A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character
by clichepips
Summary: Basically a background character's POV on the shenanigans centered on the cute transfer student, Sawada Setsuna (fem!Tsuna). Highschool!AU
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1:**

**I read a story months ago about a fem!Tsuna attending Vongola High. I can no longer find the story. I could not get the idea out of my head though and even if I can no longer completely remember the plot of said story, I made a story based on it. For all those who can remember the story, I know it does not completely follow it. I'm sorry but I REALLY can't remember much anymore. If you could please tell me the title of the story I would appreciate it greatly.**

**About the story itself, please bear in mind that I made this in my phone so typographical errors may be common. And that this is COMPLETELY AU!**

**Please read and review though. Any comment for improvement on my writing skills are greatly appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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**.**

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As a novelist, Emiya Natsumi is perfectly aware that she has the physical characteristics of an average Background Character.

Her brown eyes and straight dark brown hair paired with an average height for her fifteen years of age, she is a perfectly average-looking Japanese High School student.

Frankly, she's perfectly happy to be so.

Attending Vongola High School with its…_colorful _student body, being an uninteresting onlooker when eccentric antics of the other students are on full swing seems like the safe choice. Besides, said antics are great sources of inspirations for her novels and short stories.

Since she was one of the handful 'average' students in what seemed to be the class where the most troublesome of students were concentrated, Natsumi was unsurprised at the announcement of a transferee student a month into the school year.

Said transferee was a girl (because _of course_ it has to be a _cute girl_) named Sawada Setsuna. The new student has fluffly-looking wavy brown hair and amber eyes and looked instantly wary of the colorful portion of her soon-to-be classmates.

And then she beamed a hesitant smile that instantly summoned sparkles and flowers around her. Cue the blushing of more than half of the boys and a handful of girls.

Natsumi despaired that she suddenly became a background character for some shoujo manga. (She thought she was in a shounen one with all the action and almost constant weirdness.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Yes this is a line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was trying to be discrete about it but she knew she was failing a bit. It is kinda noticeable when you're looking back and forth between your teacher and the new transfer student.

Vongola Giotto, substitute Math teacher, the man who is arguably the most handsome male in the campus, and the Vongola heir, could not stop staring at Sawada-san.

Natsumi nearly rolled her eyes. This is so d*mn cliché. There is no way Natsumi is using this as an inspiration for _any_ of her stories.

Do they even realize how creepy this is? They look so alike the only noticeable difference between them is their coloring with Giotto-sensei's blond hair and blue eyes and the man's obviously more masculine sharp-angled facial bone structure.

Heck they might actually be closely related via twisted family drama!

…

Well, that's one thing to watch out for in this development.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Someone help my lining skills*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Sasagawa Kyoko, the school (female) idol, and Kurokawa Hana, her best friend and (surly) body guard, invited the new student for lunch. Of course they did.

Natsumi just gave out an exasperated sigh as she took out her own bento. It was rather colorful today courtesy of the numerous vegetables. (It was on discount last weekend.)

Sinclair Renato, womanizer extraordinaire, was waiting outside their classroom during lunchbreak.

Guess who he was waiting for?

Of course, the cute transfer student.

The tall sempai with black hair and equally dark eyes was rumored to have dated almost every girl in school. He, like the rest of the popular group of sempais, wasn't wearing the school uniform and was instead in a well-tailored black suit, yellow dress shirt and a fedora with a canary yellow band near the brim.

Sawada-san had very pointedly told him that she was already joining Sasagawa-san and Kurokokawa-san for lunch before dragging said girls away.

Go Sawada-san! Escape the clutches of Curly Sideburns-sempai!

As if sensing the insult, Sinclair-sempai glared at Natsumi's direction.

She tried her best to ignore said glare while she continued eating her lunch (flower-shaped carrots!) until eventually the upperclassman left.

She forgot said sempai was rumored to be able to read minds. Oops.

That glare was intense! It just made her lose her appetite.

Natsumi gave the half-eaten bento one last forlorn glance before packing it away.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I still have no lining skills*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Vongola Xanxus is, to put it simply, the blacksheep of the family. With black hair and red eyes, the tall teen was a very intimidating individual. Sure, he might look a little like his Great Grandfather Ricardo Vongola if you tilted your head and squinted a little but the teen looked nothing like the rest of his family.

That's why Natsumi wasn't surprised to find out that said classmate of hers was adopted. (Seriously, he looked nothing like his father and the man's wife. Who the heck thought they could pass him up as the couple's son?)

It didn't change the fact that when word of said adoption came out, Vongola-san became even more of a surly b*stard with a temper near impossible to deal with.

It made him even scarier.

So why the heck is Sawada-san trying her d*mn hardest to stand up to the red-eyed teen and actually _argue back_?

And how the heck did she even manage to make the adopted Vongola _walk-out_?!

His expression is positively thunderous.

Natsumi couldn't stop the shiver that ran up her spine. She made a mental note to avoid that particular classmate of hers for the foreseeable future.

And maybe give Sawada-san a word of warning for what she had unleashed upon herself.

It turns out it wasn't needed. Sawada-san was immediately swarmed by well-meaning classmates telling her about the many others unfortunate enough to piss off Vongola-san.

(It's the thought that counts…right?)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I am very embarassed by this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Belphegor was rumored to be a prince in exile complete with tiara-like golden crown that matches his wavy golden blond hair and a lack of last name. With a maniacal grin and fondness for knives, Natsumi was quite sure there was more to that story.

In any case, said exiled prince had latched onto Vongola Xanxus with a vice grip since day one, commenting something about being a 'worthy leader to follow'. In fact, the genius barely teen had specifically tested out of middle school and into their year level just to follow said worthy leader.

Belphegor-san had confronted Sawada-san after Xanxus-san walked out, obviously to intimidate the girl with his brandishing of his knives.

The fluffy-haired girl looked wary at first but actually had the guts to _not back down_ and that impressed the exiled prince enough to cut the confrontation short with a chuckle of 'Ushishishi' before returning to his seat like nothing happened.

Everyone else in the room was equally bewildered by what just happened.

Natsumi was just glad he didn't throw those knives of his. She had lost count how many times one of those had flown too close to her for comfort.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I am bewildered how many times I have to do this still*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The next day, Gokudera Hayato suddenly started following Sawada-san around like a puppy, calling her 'Princess'.

Natsumi was curious as to what just happened.

Gokudera-san was a delinquent who she had once caught smoking outside the campus. His silver-white hair was longer than was acceptable for school and he dressed like a punk with piercings, chains and rings, the first few buttons usually open with a clear view of a colored plain shirt underneath. He was half-Italian and it was no secret that he did not get along with his father at all, being the child of a woman not the man's wife.

He was still grumpy as ever that only seemed to smile and be enthusiastically cheerful whenever addressing his 'Princess'.

The one-eighty degree turn in attitude was quite bewildering to watch every time it happened, but no less entertaining.

For Natsumi, it was like watching a comedy routine you knew was coming but would still give you a degree of amusement anyway.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Lines, lines everywhere*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was a whole week later when news of Yamamoto Takeshi almost jumping from the roof had circulated the campus.

Thankfully, Sawada-san was able to convince him otherwise.

Natsumi had heard of the baseball player's injury but didn't think it was enough of a reason for their classmate to spiral into depression.

She watched warily as said teen unknowingly participated in a one-sided argument with Gokudera-san. Finding the injured athlete's smile more genuine than it had been for a while, the female Emiya had dismissed the boy from her concerns and gave her attention back to her English homework (that she forgot existed until she overheard an off-hand comment about it).

It seems like Sawada-san had that one covered.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Oh look, another line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Hibari Kyoya was one scary sempai. He is the Head Prefect of the school's Disciplinary Committee and his method of punishment for those who broke the rules usually sent said rule breaker to the clinic at best, to the ICU at worst. This earned him the nickname of 'Demon Prefect' and the teen was actually _proud_ of said title.

Somehow, _somehow_, said Demon Prefect has a soft spot for one Sawada Setsuna.

Natsumi couldn't help but shake her head, utterly perplexed at the sight of Hibari-sempai escorting Sawada-san home. She tried her hardest not to stare after them.

She failed.

She needs to stop though. Her house was the same direction and Natsumi was sure Hibari-sempai wouldn't take the staring very well.

She decided to instead look at the ground in front of her until she's safely inside her house.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I am failing at creating lines too*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Cavallone Dino was one clumsy sempai but it only made him more endearing to the female population.

Natsumi absentmindedly listened as Sawada-san was forced by pushy classmates to narrate just how said clumsy sempai unwittingly became the amber-eyed girl's knight in shining armor.

…which somehow involved a crate full of cabbages, a fish tank and a speeding truck.

It was…interesting.

She wondered if she could use a setting-appropriate parallel of that somewhere in her novel? Would it be too recognizable? Maybe change some elements like instead of a fish tank it'll be a barrel of beer? Wine?

Hmmm…

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Just a non-interesting line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi could not believe her ears. She somehow got partnered with Sawada-san in a school project.

Although she knew it was because the fluffy-haired brunette was not partnered with one of her two friends, Sawada-san did not have to sound so disappointed by this development.

Natsumi _did not_ want to get killed by the amber-eyed girl's fan club out of sheer jealousy either.

Would it be weird to have a Last Will and Testament at her age?

Probably, but it wouldn't hurt to at least be prepared on that angle. Especially with all the glares she could feel at the back of her head.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Please go on, just creating more lines here*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi just finished a short story about a hopelessly romantic woman whose lovelife finally blossomed at the age of thirty. She had to get the images of Sawada Setsuna's Fan Club out her head and writing them out into a story was a good way of doing it.

At least she got something out of watching males falling all over themselves around the amber-eyed girl.

A short story only 40,000 words long saved and Natsumi finally focused on the small cheesecake she ordered.

The quaint patisserie she was currently eating at was near the outskirts of the shopping district. She had frequented this place for almost two years now and had become very good friends with the rather young waitress named I-Pin.

Leaving the required amount and some tip, Natsumi hefted the backpack containing her laptop and with a backward wave to the Chinese waitress, she left the shop with a promise of coming back soon.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Creating lines are making me hungry*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Sawada-san had agreed to meet with Natsumi on the patisserie she frequented, the fluffy-haired brunette commenting she knew the place.

With a shrug, Natsumi left the classroom with the rest of their classmates, not really looking forward to the weekend with the sense of doom she felt creeping into her.

She should outline the plot out of the fifth installment of her novel so if ever she wouldn't survive it, her work would still be continued according to her wishes. More importantly, it would end the way she wanted it.

Her main protagonist deserved at least that much for all the crap she made him went through.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Can we just agree to ignore my lines please?*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi stared as the shop owner of the patisserie, Hibari Fon, lightly flirted with Sawada-san before declaring the cakes they ate free. She continued to stare as the amber-eyed girl blushed and insisted on paying. Okay maybe Natsumi was sneakily giving money to the exasperated I-Pin but she was still staring at the same time.

That still doesn't change the fact that she was mildly annoyed that the pastry chef finally deigned to show his face _now_ when she have been eating cake in this shop _since it opened_. And she never got any cake for free either!

"Behold the rare sight of the mating habits of a pastry chef," the straight-haired brunette student whispered to the waitress, completely deadpan and somehow managing to remove the bitterness from her voice.

That startled a laugh out of the Chinese girl and effectively drew the other two's attention to them.

The young waitress looked mildly guilty for laughing at her employer's expense but it wasn't enough to completely stop her giggles.

Natsumi smiled as innocently as she could, "Sorry, I-pin-chan and I were just talking."

"About what?" Sawada-san asked with a tilt of her head. Cue sparkles.

It should be illegal to be that cute.

"Bitter things...very bitter things," Natsumi somehow answered after almost getting blinded by the sparkles.

"Oh! Like coffee? And mocha? We need the caffeine for this project," the amber-eyed student somehow got from that.

That made Natsumi stare at her partner a little but recovered quickly and asked, "You think coffee flavored cake would work just as fine as piping hot coffee?"

Cue slow blink that highlighted Sawada-san's long lashes, "I...have no idea."

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I had no idea I had the patience for creating more lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Black hair, black eyes and equally black clothing on his lanky frame, Sinclair-sempai was not someone you _ever_ want to meet in a dark alleyway.

Natsumi could testify to that.

Sawada-san was a brave girl indeed for marching right towards said sempai to complain about the man's habits.

As Sawada-san and Sinclair-sempai argued not so quietly, Sinclair-sempai offering to walk the girl home since it was already dark and they were neighbors and Sawada-san accusing said sempai of stalking while looking a little angry but mostly flustered, Natsumi slowly backed away before walking towards the other direction as stealthily as she could.

She noted to herself to find a way to _never_ meet Sinclair-sempai while said sempai is somewhere dark.

It felt like encountering a serial killer.

When the two continued arguing as Natsumi rounded a corner, the straight-haired brunette felt a sigh escape her lips involuntarily.

It looks like she won't be dying tonight then.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I'm starting to become proficient at creating lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

That night, Emiya Natsumi wrote a 10,000 word prose about a girl dying in a dark alley, _in one sitting_. Her killer's main feature was his abyss-colored eyes.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Never mind. Making lines are still a bother*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi stared blankly at Belphegor as said rumored exiled prince _ordered_ her to exchange partners with him while twirling a rather shiny silver dagger in one hand.

Thankfully, Sawada-san rescued her from what would have been a messy death…

…by _threatening_ Belphegor-san with something Sawada-san whispered in a tone low enough that Natsumi was not able to catch.

When the exiled prince walked away without even a glance in Natsumi's direction, she thanked Sawada-san profusely out loud.

She silently vowed to claim most of the work for the project. It was the least Natsumi could do for the amber-eyed for saving her life.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Please don't be upset about this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

That night, Emiya Natsumi wrote a 12,000 prose about one of Jack the Ripper's victims, describing the famous killer as having wavy, golden hair with a silver knife.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I am upset about this line too*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi fought a sigh as Gokudera-san invited himself into one of her and Sawada-san's meet-ups, dragging his own partner Yamamoto-san with him. The half-Italian kept yelling about helping his 'Princess' with their project but spent half the time starry-eyed at Sawada-san and the other half arguing with the baseball player.

In the end, the two brunette girls had to finish their project _and _the boys' with no input from said boys _at all_.

Natsumi was just happy the project was finally finished and hopefully her entanglement in Sawada-san's shoujo life was finally over.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*It's finally over! This is the last line!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi should not have jinxed herself.

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**Again, thank you for reading this. This is my first time writing in this site so any comment on improving my formatting is greatly appreciated.**

**Edited 1-Mar-2019: Finally had the time to edit this! Corrected a few things and added a few lines. Also please note that no line was harmed in the editing of this chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2:**

**Thank you for reading another chapter of 'A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character'. Again, this is my first story in this site and I was really confused about the formatting of a few things (like how it would erase new lines if it was empty or how the italics of some of the words just went **_**poof!**_**) but I've really been enjoying the reviews and comments.**

**ALSO I didn't know about the traffic stats until recently and I am so flattered that so many viewed this story! I love you all for checking it out!**

**And just to note for anyone who doesn't know the Japanese School Calendar, here's a sample:**

**1****st**** Trimester: April 8 – July 20**

**Summer Vacation: July 21 – August 31**

**2****nd**** Trimester: September 1 - December 24**

**Winter Vacation: December 25 – January 7**

**3****rd**** Trimester: January 8 – March 24**

**Spring Vacation: March 25 – April 7**

**PLEASE NOTE that this is just a SAMPLE school calendar I found on the internet. It may not be the exact dates.**

**Again, please review. Any comments for improvement would be greatly appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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Natsumi should not have jinxed herself.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is very excited*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was a normal Saturday.

It was _supposed _to be a normal Saturday.

Natsumi went out to eat lunch. Sitting by herself in a stall at the very back of the restaurant, she was enjoying greasy fastfood fried chicken and burger with a side of fries because she's in the mood for unhealthy food.

(It wasn't because she wasn't in the mood to cook and this place was nearest to her house.)

When suddenly a wild Skull de Mort-sempai (or by Japanese standard format for names, de Mort Skull but it kinda sounded weird to her even inside her head) appeared out of nowhere and went to every single girl around his age to ask them out on a date.

The violently purple sempai (purple hair, purple eyes, purple eyeliner and stuntsuit with purple highlights) looked increasingly disheartened at every rejection.

Natsumi couldn't blame them though. Getting yelled at to go out on a date with him isn't doing Skull-sempai any favor.

By the time he reached Natsumi's stall, he looked like he was about to cry.

"Would you go out on a date with THE GREAT SKULL-SAMA?!" he yelled but the first year student was prepared and already had her hands over her ears. Perks of being at the farthest stall.

As boisterous as the purple-haired sempai's words may be, that doesn't change the fact that his eyes were shiny with tears and that his grin is faltering.

Natsumi, because she's a stupid bleeding heart, took pity on him and agreed.

.

And instantly regretted it when Skull-sempai nearly suffocated her to death via tight hug.

After getting released, Skull-sempai gave us a sheepish smile and asked, "Uh…what's your name again?"

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is not as excited as the line above*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It turns out that it was a dare about being able to score a date _without_ said date bailing midway. Natsumi felt so cheated right now. It was just a stupid dare all along.

And now, she was being dragged by Skull-sempai across the shopping district, declaring that he would shop _and pay_ a whole new outfit for her since she agreed to go on a date with him.

Natsumi was a little scared of what Skull-sempai would choose as a good outfit. The very purple sempai was not someone Natsumi would trust with picking _any_ part of her wardrobe.

So here she is, enduring all the stares as she got dragged around by a guy two years her senior. It was probably the thick make-up on Skull-sempai's face that drew their attention. Or maybe how she yelled at him that no, a costume/cosplay store is not a valid place to pick an outfit for in a date. So what if that dress is in a shade of bright purple that matched his hair? It's a magical girl costume not a casual outfit!

In the end, with a lot of effort and haggling from Natsumi, the only purple in her outfit was a kanzashi with a single lavender stalk as decoration.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*We apologize for the delay in delivering the line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was horrified that Skull-sempai actually set said date during a school day, during school hours, _and_ on school campus. She had to threaten to back out from said date just to change said sempai's mind.

Skull-sempai bumbled about being told it was an 'auspicious day' for a date but Natsumi was not buying any of that crap. She did not want to be bitten to death, thank you very much.

They had a date on a Sunday instead, even if Skull-sempai pouted to her about it.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Fresh from the line factory*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The outfit Skull de Mort bought for Natsumi, which she actually picked mostly herself, was a pure white turtle neck, sleeveless dress with the flowy skirt reaching her knees paired with a black shoal and cream doll shoes to complete the look.

Her hair was in a tight bun held up by the lovely kanzashi. She put on a light make-up (which she had to practice religiously the whole week for this day, thank you online video tutorials) and a small amount of perfume. No need to sneeze and deal with a runny nose during her date.

She knew this date wouldn't be in any way what she dreamed to be a 'perfect date' but she'll try to keep it as close as possible.

It's her first date after all, however much she's regretting agreeing to it.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line may or may not be here of its own will*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

No wonder the dare included not bailing; everything about the date just seemed to go wrong.

Natsumi waited almost half an hour for Skull-sempai to show up.

By that point, she was spiraling from anger (because _he_ was the one who asked for a date, how dare he not show up on time?) to terrified (because what if the dare was actually bailing on the date he got and watch her wait uselessly for hours?).

But when said purple-haired sempai finally showed up, Natsumi couldn't help but be worried instead.

Skull-sempai was a mess. His outfit was rumpled and torn in a few places, there was a scratch on his left cheek and his make-up look hastily put on.

He apologized to her profusely and looked d*mn near crying.

Natsumi couldn't help but instantly forgive him.

The fast 180 on his mood when she told him that made the freshman think she might have just been tricked.

She tried not to comment on it as he dragged her inside the famous Kokuyo Land Amusement Park.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A pineapple claimed that this line is just an illusion*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Skull-sempai was attracting a lot of attention. The negative kind of attention.

Although Natsumi and he enjoyed the rollercoaster rather immensely, the following activities were not as fun.

In the shooting booth, Skull-sempai managed not to hit a single target even after several tries. He might have kept going if the owner hadn't kicked them out because Skull-sempai managed to hit him one too many times.

In the bumper carts, the purple-haired sempai managed to piss off every other customer with his obnoxiousness that they ganged up on him. Natsumi was just thankful she wasn't with him in the cart.

When they went to get ice cream, Skull-sempai managed to spill his on her very white dress. No matter how much tissue they used, her outfit was ruined.

He then decided to drag them both into the haunted house because apparently it would be dark enough that the stain on her dress wouldn't matter. Natsumi was not sold on that logic. Especially when she was a coward when it concerns anything haunted and supernatural.

It was also not amusing to know that Skull-sempai has a higher pitched scream than her.

The brunette got so fed up with the screaming that she punched the d*mn ghost that kept following them just to torment her and her date.

They got kicked out of the haunted house but at least Skull-sempai is not screaming at her ears anymore.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A line from a good piece of art will keep different scenes apart*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The following day, Sinclair Renato had a rather suspicious shiner no one dared ask him about.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Who cares, I'm just another line in a world with billions of lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was not even remotely upset that _no one_ knew who Skull de Mort's mysterious date was because not even Skull-sempai himself could remember her name.

Okay, maybe she is a little upset that the purple-haired sempai can't remember her name. After all they've been through and she wasn't even worth a few brain cells?

She buried the outfit the very purple sempai bought her at the back of her closet.

She placed the kanzashi on her work table though, it was cute and she rather liked it.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line just got back from its date, it didn't go well*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was nearing the end of the first trimester.

Which also meant time for exams.

It was a bittersweet time for Natsumi.

Between studying for the upcoming exams, keeping up with the homework and activities assigned to them, and meeting the deadlines set by her editor, the brunette is pretty much drowning in work and is heavily wishing for more hours in a day just to make time for the sleep she was missing.

Every morning she would get startled awake by the alarm clock, go through her morning ritual, cook breakfast and lunch, eat breakfast, check contents of bag including packing her bento, and then go to school. After school, she would hurry to her favorite patisserie and get a desert, hurry home to cook dinner, eat said dinner and dessert while trying in vain to dent her to-do list, stop either on midnight or early hours to do the (crusted) dishes, review what work she had done, do her nightly ritual and go to sleep.

Repeat until the actual exam days.

It goes to say that when it was finally over, Natsumi was just happy to go back to her usual sleep schedule.

When the checked papers were returned, Natsumi was proud to be the top female student in their class. The _actual_ top of their class when it comes to test scores though are shared between Vongola Xanxus, Belphegor and Gokudera Hayato, who all got perfect scores.

Natsumi was not surprised, those three were _geniuses_.

If she could keep her grade up like this, the only reason she'll take top spot in their class is because of the three's work ethic.

They're d*mn _lazy_.

Natsumi instantly stiffened when three glares were shot at her direction.

How the heck did they know she was insulting them in her mind?!

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A sleepy line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The trimester _finally_ ended.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*ZzZzZzZzZzZzZ*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

There was some sort of beach party.

Apparently Natsumi was _required_ to attend because of her top spot.

That's why she had to shop for a swim suit in the mall. She didn't know whether to be happy that her swimsuit last summer had become tighter in certain places or be sad that it might actually be because she was getting fat.

(Hibari Fon-san's cakes are to be blamed. They're too delicious not to try every day.)

She chose a sky blue one piece swimsuit that actually covered her stomach even though her back was too exposed for comfort. The others had weird cuts in places though and this swimsuit actually covered the most skin among the options.

Sawada Setsuna, Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana entered the swimsuit shop just as the Natsumi paid for her purchase.

She thanked her stars when she finally left said shop while Sawada-san's fan club entered 'discretely'. She tried her best to walk casually away and not be recognized as she exited the shop.

Wait…was that Hibari Alaude-sensei getting dragged in by Vongola-sensei?

.

Well, adding him to the list of men in Sawada Setsuna's Fan Club then.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A watermelon-devouring line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was a rather normal beach party at first.

There were watermelons and ice cream getting eaten and there was a beachball getting passed around in the waters. Sawada-san, Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san were lounging around under the large parasols giggling about something. Yamamoto-san was laughing while destroying his competition in beach volleyball. Gokudera-san was furiously yelling at any male that looked anywhere near Sawada-san's direction.

Everyone was just thankful that both Vongola-san and Belphegor-san found gatherings like these beneath them to attend.

And then the other members of Sawada Setsuna's fan club started arriving one by one.

Natsumi immediately gathered her belongings and decided to evacuate to the other side of the beach.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is out of ideas*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

_How _the heck did their antics all the way to where Natsumi is?!

Natsumi watched wide-eyed as they somehow found jetskis and are now racing each other while simultaneously trying to impede each other.

Via baseball bats, dynamites, bullets and…were those food emitting purple aura?

Scratch that! Did said food just _melted_ dynamite?! That doesn't make any sense!

Maybe Sinclair-sempai's garishly bright _yellow and orange_ swim trunks were making her see things?

.

Yep. That must be it.

.

Maybe she should go home and get some rest. It's probably the heat getting in her head.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is diagnosing you with denial*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Nothing else special happened to the rest of her summer vacation.

If she ignored the stories of Sawada Setsuna and her fan club's antics hard enough.

It didn't happen _to her_ after all even if it happened somewhere near her residence.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Hmm…this line seems to be ignoring the author for some reason*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The start of the new trimester was everything Natsumi had expected.

Including the wailing fan girls and fan boys.

Their cries of finally being able to see 'the love of their life' almost every day of the week was a bit hard to ignore because of the high volume of it, both in terms of number and loudness.

But she'll live…

Oh wait, most of those 'love of their life' is in her class.

Natsumi was very, _very _sad to find out that said fan girls and fan boys were already crowding the door to their classroom.

It was going to be a b*tch and a half to navigate through them.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A confession from this line, it is Alaude's fan*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was in the middle of the second trimester when their class was required to self-produce a play.

Natsumi could already feel the headache this play is going to produce.

She was drafted as a stagehand.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line would do anything for love*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was not a happy stagehand.

Just the sheer volume of props the actors break on a daily basis made their budget _and _Props Manager weep.

Thankfully, Kurokawa-san was assigned as the 'Production Manager' and 'Director'. If Kurokawa-san wasn't there to reign in the boys, there would have been more damage.

Natsumi didn't think her own temper and sanity could take that.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This is a tree dressed as a line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Their class' play was a hit.

Even if the script was barely stuck to and everything devolved into chaos in the end.

Everyone loved the 'action-adventure'.

It was supposed to be a romantic comedy.

And _do not _get her started on the 'actors and actresses' that suddenly appeared out of nowhere to further twist the storyline.

Most of those weren't even their classmates.

And now she's hauling all the props she and her fellow stagehands had worked on for several sleepless nights to the nearest trashcan.

They were all carelessly destroyed and she was rather upset about it.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A broken line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

There were rumors of Sawada Setsuna and Vongola Giotto dating circulating around the campus.

Natsumi nearly choked on her drink (a bottled tea she saw from a commercial and decided to try out) when it finally reached her.

She knew it, Sawada-san's fan club is bad for her health.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Caffeine-powered line, go!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(Natsumi was not happy to find out that the Demon Prefect _could_ get worse.)

Natsumi was pretty sure all five troublemakers that vandalized the school walls are going straight to the ICU after this.

She winced when she heard a bone break all the way to where she was hiding from the prefect's sour mood. Behind a tree.

Maybe she should go find a more effective hiding place.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Ssshh, this line is hiding*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(Natsumi was not happy either about the fact that Vongola Xanxus' mood _could_ get worse.)

Vongola-san threw a desk at a silver-haired sempai for no other reason than existing.

Okay, maybe said sempai was being loud…and shouting 'VOI!' all the time…and called Vongola-san a 'sh*tty boss'…and started brandishing his sword around…and his really long hair hit Vongola-san in the face when he turned his head a bit too fast.

Okay, maybe getting hair-slapped would make anyone angry but did he really deserve to get hit with a desk in the face?

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line thinks therefore it is*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(The less said about Belphegor, the better.)

Natsumi carefully ignored the wall full of silver knives.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is a ninja*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(Gokudera Hayato was _sulking_, Natsumi absentmindedly noted.)

She would sometimes see Gokudera-san send glares at Sawada-san and Vongola-sensei's direction. Sometimes it was a kicked puppy expression that had Natsumi wanting to cuddle and coo at him until he feels better.

She doesn't though because she doesn't want to die via dynamite to the face.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is scared of spiders…and emus*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(Yamamoto Takeshi's smile was strained again.)

Natsumi was watching Yamamoto-san closely for any signs of depression. She _did not_ want a suicide happening in her class.

That way laid a horror story waiting to happen.

Natsumi may have also hinted something at Tsuyoshi-san so he could watch his son as well. She was sure the sushi chef was still rather shaken about the fact that the baseball player tried jumping off a roof.

With Tsuyoshi-san watching the tall teen at home and her watching him at school she was sure at least one of them would be able catch any signs of depression before it could get worse.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line offers a consoling, sympathetic smile*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(Sinclair Renato's glares and glowers could probably make the bravest of men soil themselves.)

Natsumi definitely _did not_ want to meet Sinclair-sempai on an empty street even at_ broad daylight_. Just passing by him in the hallways made her want to mold into the walls.

Poor, unfortunate soul that didn't move fast enough out of the way for the black-haired senior student. He promptly burst into tears and collapsed bonelessly on the floor.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is too depressed to care*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

(Cavallone Dino was seen walking aimlessly around campus with a kicked puppy expression.)

Random females were rumored to have broken down in tears at the sight of Cavallone-sempai's 'sorrow-ridden' face.

Natsumi was entirely sympathetic though. If Gokudera-san's face made her want to hug and coo, the blond sempai's face added to his worsening clumsiness made her want to wrap him up in bubblewraps and protect him from…from the world in general, maybe? She just really felt like protecting him for some reason.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line would like a minion please*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi stared slack-jawed at the 'CLOSED' sign on her favorite patisserie's door.

Oh come on!

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line would like to be your right-hand man*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was a very dark month in Natsumi's short life.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line lost a flashlight with a whistle and a compass ****built in****to it, have you seen one?*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was actually surprised about the news of Sawada-san and Vongola-sensei's break-up. She suspected it was because of family intervention though she had no way to prove it.

Sawada-san was surprisingly tight-lipped about the reason for the end of the short-lived relationship. Not even their pushiest classmate got a single word out of her until Kurokawa-san finally had enough and shooed them all away.

Natsumi released a sigh as she sat and looked out the window. From there she could see several leaf-less trees looking quite lifeless and dull.

It's looking to be a rather cold and lonely winter.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Anyone lost a weird looking flashlight?**** \- This ****line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was not even snowing. The temperature was high enough that no snow formed.

But it was really windy and that little fact made all the difference.

Natsumi shivered as she tried to wrap the thin coat around her body better. She picked her outfit that morning to account for the fact that the temperature was nowhere near low enough for thicker materials.

She did not account for the freezing winds that came out of nowhere when she got out of the mall. She contemplated on going right back in to buy something thicker when she rationalized she didn't need more thick coats as she already had several of them.

It was on Natsumi's way back home that she encountered Sawada-san who seemed to have made the same choice of thin coat as her.

Except Sawada-san had been given a thicker coat by Sinclair-sempai, the black-haired senior not minding the fluffy-haired brunette's refusal and merely wrapped said coat around the younger's shoulders. Skull de Mort had followed suit and wrapped his own thick coat around the amber-eyed kohai's shoulders, atop his yearmate's own coat.

Feeling a small twinge of jealousy, Natsumi turned around and fast-walked home, sneezing all the way.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is cold and is asking for a hug*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi fell miserably ill.

Living alone, she had to buy her own medicine when she didn't notice she had run out of them.

Natsumi remembered being able to buy said medication.

She did not remember getting home.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Out of Stock - Line Factory*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi woke up to a very unfamiliar ceiling. It was a neutral white color unlike her room's light blue painted ceiling.

It said something about her priorities that the first thing her mind did was thank the heavens she had no history of doing embarrassing things when sick.

(That she knew of.)

In any case, the room was almost bare and only contained the necessary amenities. It was pragmatic and distinctly masculine in the choice of furniture.

Natsumi only needed to turn her head to the right to see that out the small window is the sight of her own house.

At least she _did_ reach near her house and was found by her neighbors across the street.

And then Natsumi remembered just _whose_ house was across from hers.

"Awake?" a male voice asked. She didn't even notice the d*mn door opening.

Natsumi turned to her left and saw Hibari Alaude, her History teacher, by the door holding a tray with a bowl of soup and a glass of water. She was thankfully coherent enough not to spat out the 'obviously' at the tip of her tongue.

"Sensei," she managed to reply though her voice sounded like she gurgled glass for a whole hour before screaming all night at a rock concert.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Until further notice, a mimic would be here instead*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi had promptly shoved at the very depths of her mind how the most terrifying sensei of her school had to assist her through a glass of water and a bowl of soup.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Yep, still a mimic*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was happy to find out she was in her own clothes even if it wasn't the one she wore going out to buy medicine. It was probably not that hard to find her keys (which are in her coin pouch) and retrieve a few items for her to wear.

And then she suddenly realized _someone_ would have had to change her into said set of clothes.

This fact gave her a great urge to go back to her home and out of the Hibari residence as soon as possible.

Which is the reason why she is trying to sneak back to her house.

She failed miserably when she encountered the full set of Hibari brothers eating their dinner when she took a wrong turn.

Hibari Fon-san will be _hated_ for the rest of her lifetime for laughing at her explanation as to why she looked so spooked finding them at their own house.

She then almost got 'bitten to death' by Hibari Kyoya-sempai for 'being a stupid herbivore' via gleaming tonfa.

Fon-san thankfully rescued her from such fate and was promptly forgiven for the earlier offense.

Natsumi was then invited to eat dinner with them and she gratefully accepted, still blushing and a tiny bit wary that Hibari-sempai would suddenly attack her.

When she got around to explaining what happened, Hibari Alaude-sensei was unimpressed with her reason as to why he found her unconscious in the middle of the street with a 40°C fever.

She probably should have just bought the extra coat.

The brunette found herself apologizing and thanking the Hibaris repeatedly while wishing for the floor to swallow her and just end her misery.

Her wish was never granted.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The last mimic was fired for trying to eat the author - newly-hired mimic*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

When Natsumi finally found out the date for that day, her brain promptly short-circuited.

Backtracking on the day she got it in her head that walking around with a high fever is perfectly safe, she lost about three days in between.

Three. Whole. Days.

She was pretty sure she didn't stay unconscious since she was not rushed to the hospital.

Natsumi was torn between asking just_ what the heck happened_ and pretending it never happened.

.

It never happened.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Happy to announce that we are back on business – Line Factory*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

When Natsumi was finally pronounced well enough to go back to her house the next day, she was entirely too happy to finally be released.

"Thank you Hibari-san, Hibari-sensei, Hibari-sempai," she exclaimed for good measure like she hadn't been thanking them repeatedly earlier that morning.

The response she got respectively was a serene smile, a small nod and a scoff.

That's probably all she was ever gonna get and left with a wave and a smile.

She never got the courage to ask whose bed she was using the whole time.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This is a pretty rushed and lame line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi had to answer a few questions from a nosy*cough*_concerned _neighbor about why she had stayed over in an all-male residence for the better part of the week.

She answered in complete honesty and left the woman to spread whatever gossip-worthy tidbit the hag got out of it.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*An admittedly substandard line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

That weekend, Natsumi definitely wore a thicker coat when she went out to buy some take-out.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The author is currently filing a complaint against the Line Factory – a mimic*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Thankfully, Hibari-sensei must have informed the staff that Natsumi was sick and were given copies of the worksheets and assigned homework she had missed during a week of absence.

It was late nights for the rest of the week but she was just happy there was no looming deadline from her editor to top it.

She managed to do all the assigned work before the end of the week.

Just in time to the exam week to hit her like a train that very next week.

It was like a repeat of the last time where every student was panicking about the exams in varying degrees.

Natsumi looked around at her classmates frantically negotiating about borrowing notes for this subject at so-and-so day/s.

Then she spotted Sawada-san looking forlornly out the window.

That was a difference from last time though, Natsumi thought.

Because this time there was an air of sadness in what should have been a prelude to a very cheerful and colorful holiday.

Well…cheerful and colorful as long as they survive the exams.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The line is busy at the moment, please try again later*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was the top female student again.

Sawada-san's grades seemed to have dipped from its usual average ones.

Cue reassuring statements/actions from Sawada-san's friends and fan club.

Even if most members of her fan club were rather…awkward with their reassuring acts and words.

And then the weirdness multiplied when they tried to cheer the amber-eyed girl up.

Natsumi stared while Gokudera-san and Yamamoto-san was happily telling Sawada-san how they are now getting along very well, even having their arms over each other's shoulders. Their silver-haired classmate sounded so strained and their grips looked too tight to be comfortable on each other's shoulder.

Then Natsumi's eyes were drawn to Belphegor-san juggling his knives.

Then Vongola-san gave Sawada-san an awkward pat on the back.

Oh, Cavallone-sempai just offered Sawada-san to go horseback riding with him.

Uhmm…who's that blue-haired (and pineapple-styled) guy? Err…he's trying to console Sawada-san with the fact that he'll be transferring into their class next semester? Was that consoling? Did they know each other?

Hibari-sempai doesn't seem to like the unknown guy though.

Whoa! Natsumi finally got to see the guys face and he had heterochromatic eyes! One blue and one red. It looks quite awesome in his (admittedly) handsome face. What's with the 'kufufufufu' laugh though?

And then Sinclair-sempai entered their classroom with a smirk.

Natsumi left the room with her bag in tow as discretely as she could.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to deal with them again until after winter break.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN NATSUMI'S BACKSTORY YOU MAY SKIP THIS SECTION*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Christmas Dinner was lonely with an empty house.

Natsumi's older brother, Emiya Tatsuya, could not make it home. He often travels for work so it was a bit expected.

Their parents had migrated to the US for work and the siblings were born and raised there. Their parents died in an accident on Tatsuya's first year in college. Natsumi, being seven years younger, was still in 6th grade. Thankfully, he was already of legal age and easily got custody of Natsumi.

They also moved back to Japan and back to their parents previously abandoned house because frankly, rent is one less thing to worry about.

Tatsuya had to stop attending college and had to find work because the money left to them would not be enough to tide them through his college even with part time jobs.

Their first year alone together was horrible. Without college education, Tatsuya couldn't find a decent job locally and had to look for it in Tokyo two hours away, with more competition that mostly had better educational attainment than him. Natsumi was practically deadweight trying to adjust to Japanese education standards because she didn't get exempted from things like language studies and Japanese history. She wasn't there as an exchange student but a permanent one. And there were times when they just want to quit on each other due to stress and frustration.

At least, until Natsumi got lucky and had a book of hers published.

The royalties she got back then weren't that big but it was enough to add to what meager amount Tatsuya got from numerous odd jobs here and there and they were _okay_ again.

Then another year later Natsumi's books became unexpectedly popular and the royalties became enough and then she did something utterly b*llsy.

The envelope Tatsuya never had the courage to mail when their parents were still alive, the envelope he had thrown away after their parents death, the envelope Natsumi recovered and tried her hardest to fix into something presentable again, the envelope containing a letter and sample photographs, the envelope addressed to a world-renowned wildlife photographer, the envelope Natsumi mailed in secret received a reply.

A positive reply.

She proudly presented it to her brother.

Tatsuya fainted.

Of course, after he woke up they had a long conversation about it. The amount Tatsuya would get for the apprenticeship would only be enough for him and he'll be an apprentice for _five years. _But Natsumi countered by saying even if the royalties she received from her writings suddenly decreased she could always just dip into their emergency funds (a.k.a. the money left by their parents) until it became okay again.

If not…well…_emergency funds_ until they're _okay_ again.

In other words, Natsumi was the one who pushed Tatsuya to chase his dreams.

So if he wasn't home frequently because of said job, she really can't complain can she?

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*END OF LENGTHY BACKSTORY*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Emiya Tatsuya made it home for the turn of the year.

Natsumi was ecstatic her brother actually managed some days off for the special occasion.

She had happily babbled about _everything_ that had happened between now and the last time her Tatsu-nii was able to come home.

He was never told of the 'Sick Week Incident'.

Instead, the female Emiya demanded a detailed description of the places the male Emiya had been to on his latest travels.

It was a good day.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This is a restricted line space, unauthorized personnel please leave*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was too short of a day since Emiya Tatsuya left the day after.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*A short line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

**.**

**.**

**.**

**About the reviews…I replied to them individually through PM and now I can't actually remember what I wrote there.**

**Still! Thank you ****aspiderlife****, ****Glassed Loner****, ****tsuyume1**** for the reviews!**

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**P.S. I found the story I had been looking for. It turns out that fem!Tsuna's name there is Tsunayumi. As expected of months old memory. I barely recalled anything right and had been mixed up with other VongolaHigh!AUs because I binged on it for weeks following the discovery of that awesome story lol *tries not to die of shame*.**

**But the amazing story was still my inspiration for starting my own and all credits should be due :)**

**Lovely Madness! by Shiirakis**

**Please check it out. It is a lovely story that should be shared 3**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:**

**So I found a lot of typographical and grammatical errors when I reread my previous chapters…**

**I'm sorry for that!**

**There would probably be several here as well so advance warning!**

**MORE IMPORANTLY THANK YOU FOR THE READS, REVIEWS, FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES!**

**So here's another chapter of A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character! I hope you enjoy this one as well!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**.**

**.**

The third and last trimester started way too soon according to one Emiya Natsumi (and just about every student out there).

On her way to school, Natsumi encountered a male student she had never seen before even though he was wearing the male version of her school uniform. Is he a transfer student too like the handsome pineapple guy?

The male student was shorter than average but interesting enough not just because of the blood red hair but because of his compass-patterned eyes. He was kinda handsome in a cute way. Definitely not an Akabane Karma **(A/N: of Assasination Classroom)** but more of the middle school version of Akashi Seijurou **(A/N: of Kuroko no Basuke)**. Natsumi kind of wondered if he has their lovable *ssh*le personali−

And then he promptly tripped on air and dropped his things all over the ground.

The female Emiya was already on her way to help the poor teen when Sawada Setsuna came out of nowhere and helped him gather his belongings.

Cozart Enma introduced himself, blushing and stuttering the whole sentence in a barely understandable way.

Natsumi sighed and turned to leave them on their moment.

How could she have forgotten about being a Background Character in Sawada-san's shoujo life?

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is *suddenly trips* −woops!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Cozart Enma became the class' new transferee student.

_Of course_ he is.

Where is the heterochromatic pineapple though? Natsumi was kind of looking forward to him.

The door suddenly slammed open, startling everyone in the room in varying degrees. ("Hayato-kun! Put that dynamite away!")

As if summoned by her thoughts, the blue-haired guy sauntered in with a confident smirk and it would have been a grand entrance if he didn't look like he just suffered a beat down from the wrong end of Hibari-sempai's tonfa.

Natsumi definitely recognizes the shape of those bruises.

Still, neither his haggard appearance nor the teacher's reprimand on his lateness lessened the heterochromatic male's confidence as he proudly introduced himself as Rokudo Mukuro.

Apparently, Sawada Setsuna's Future Husband.

That definitely earned a lot of protests judging by the fact that Rokudo-san had to dodge a bullet, a knife and a dynamite.

Poor Hinata-sensei was right next to him.

(Natsumi ignored the fact that she basically forced herself to kill her budding crush on Rokudo Mukuro. No use chasing after a guy who is clearly intent on Sawada-san.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Don't give up! – an anonymous line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Poor Cozart-san. He met Sawada Setsuna a little too late. Her fan club was already quite possessive of her.

Natsumi watched on as Cozart-san was easily intimidated by a very loud and delinquent-looking Gokudera-san.

Vongola-san and Belphegor-san hadn't even joined in on the fun yet.

Where's Rokudo-san anyway?

Oh, he's fighting Hibari-sempai outside with−is that a trident?!

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is a professional water bender*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi has a gut feeling it was about to turn for the worst when Sinclair-sempai sauntered in.

Her gut was right.

A gun fight between the black-haired sempai and the black-haired Vongola erupted. And then Belphegor-san and Gokudera-san got into their pissing match.

Yep, that's Yamamoto-san challenging the 'VOI!'-yelling sempai to a…sword fight? Natsumi knew the silver-haired sempai has a sword but where did Yamamoto-san even got his?

And more importantly, how did they all get this much weapons pass the Disciplinary Committee?!

As if on cue, the Demon Prefect's fight with their new blue-haired classmate had suddenly migrated inside their classroom.

How did they even get here instantly?! Their classroom was on the _fourth floor_! The two were just duking it out on the high school building's front lawn a few seconds ago!

Natsumi decided it was time to get the heck out of the way.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line advises you to please wear your hardhats to school*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi got detention for 'loitering' in the hallways during class hours.

Like heck she's gonna stay inside her classroom while there was a brawl going on inside.

Still, she took the detention slip from a teacher with a resigned sigh. She should have hidden in the bathrooms like the most of the 'ordinary classmates' instead of waiting the chaos out in front of the classroom.

Now she's here during detention with the rest of the violent bunch still sporting bruises.

And oh, Sawada-san.

Poor Sawada-san was just trying to get everyone to stop fighting.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Free detention slip, anyone? – unsuspicious line with a (fake) beard*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi took stock of everyone in the room with her and Sawada-san.

There's Vongola-san and Sinclair-sempai thankfully without their guns, Belphegor-san with no knife at either hand, Gokudera-san confiscated of _all_ his dynamites (Natsumi still could not believe how much he was able to hide within his clothes), Yamamoto-san _not_ swinging a katana (of all things) around, the silver-haired sempai (Superbi Squalo was his name if Natsumi heard correctly) sans his sword-attached-to-prosthetic-arm-thing, Cozart-san mourning his cracked glasses, Cavallone-sempai who tried to rescue Sawada-san but ended up getting dragged into the brawl (he was using a whip but it just hit his own face), and lastly Hibari-sempai without his beloved tonfas. The only reason the Head Prefect also got detention was because Hibari-sensei was the one who had to break up the fight.

"Kufufufu," someone laughed.

Sawada-san nearly cried at the sight of Rokudo-san smirking by the door.

Natsumi suspected her blue-haired classmate just let himself get caught because she knew he disappeared before the detention slips were given around.

The female Emiya was happy she took a seat at the back of the class in a corner, she had a feeling another brawl was about to happen.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line can feel something in its guts…wait, it's just gas*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Another brawl happened.

Natsumi was perfectly happy hiding behind a toppled desk.

Completely ignoring the unconscious Gokudera-san groaning somewhere in her right.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is ignoring you*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Vongola Timoteo, the Principal and owner of the school, was the one who conducted the detention in the end. He delivered a lecture in that disappointed grandfather tone he was famous for.

In another classroom because the last one was promptly destroyed during the fight.

Natsumi was unhappy to note that this was actually the first time she ever got a mark on her record.

It was just the _first day_ of the new trimester.

(In other news, the battle royale scenes on Natsumi's novels were remarked to have improved marginally.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line demands something…it doesn't know yet what but it's demanding*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

A school fare.

Their class decided on a Butler-Maid Café of some sort.

Admittedly there wouldn't be a shortage of attractive butlers and maids in their class.

Natsumi volunteered to be one of the chefs.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Line around the comfort zone*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

As expected, Sawada-san made a very cute maid. She and an equally cute Sasagawa-san were selected to advertise the café.

They were a hit.

That hadn't even taken into account the eclectic but still handsome Butlers of the café.

(She somehow started a movement on revoking the rights to refuse of everyone selected as a maid/butler. She'll never tell anyone it was her who started it though. Vongola-san was still looking for the perpetrator and she liked being alive, thank you very much.)

Natsumi hummed a cheerful song as she tuned out the chaos happening on the Café part of their classroom and pretended to be busy in the kitchen part of the divide. Kurokawa-san was doing the same thing as her anyway.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Hums Bohemian Rhapsody, fails*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Even though their class earned quite a lot of money, most of it was blown off on the bills for the repairs.

Natsumi was not remotely surprised about this as their class president outlined the income vs expense in front of the class.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Her Majesty, Queen of the Lines!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Emiya Tatsuya taught his younger sister a sport he was rather fond of, archery.

(It was one of the few sports Natsumi was willing to try.)

Not wanting to disappoint her brother (he made time to teach it afterall), Natsumi poured hours into practicing until she was fairly proficient at it.

It goes to say that she volunteered to represent their class and easily won against her other yearmates and represented the freshmen.

The female Emiya was only mildly disappointed to lose against the representative of the seniors because she expected it. Kise-sempai _is_ the Captain of the Archery Club.

Natsumi was disappointed though that none of her classmates even noticed her achievements.

It was a little understandable that Sawada-san, Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san would receive the bulk of the attention for winning the Cooking Championship.

She was only second after all.

(Like always.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*»‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒›*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The second day (which, thankfully, is also the _last _day) of the madness called the school fare finally ended.

Natsumi fell asleep as her head hit the pillow.

She was _that_ exhausted.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I am the Deadline, fear me!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi's editor demanded an extra chapter from her to 'surprise the readers'.

It certainly surprised the author herself.

That was the reason she ended up staying at her favorite patisserie later than usual.

In fact, she was there until closing time.

Bless I-Pin's wonderful soul for not minding her imposition.

Honestly, Natsumi lost track of time somewhen after the third slice of cake.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The stresslines are multiplying*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi continued looking blankly at her laptop's screen as she sat on one of the highback chairs in her favorite patisserie. She was the only customer left for the night.

Natsumi is getting quite stressed.

The deadline for the next two chapters of her lengthy novel was exactly midnight that night.

While one chapter was already done and reread twice, she just couldn't get the second chapter to break through 15,000 words.

Her editor demanded 20,000 words each chapter.

The first year student honestly doesn't know where to pull those extra 5,000 words from.

"Uhm, Natsumi-san?" a young female voice called out.

Natsumi turned to the sheepish looking I-Pin. This made the older female smile apologetically at the younger, "Sorry I-Pin-chan, I lost track of time again. I'll finish up."

It seems like the shop is closing.

Natsumi ate the last few bites of her cake with her right hand while her left shut down her laptop and started arranging the papers strewn on the table she occupied.

This week's dinners had been a steady diet of cakes since Natsumi no longer had the time to cook anything else.

As soon as she had packed up, the female Emiya volunteered to help I-Pin-chan clean up. They were in the process of stacking the chairs up the tables to efficiently sweep the floor when Hibari Fon-san finally left the kitchen.

The pastry chef didn't even pause at the sight of a frequent customer helping his apprentice, unlike the first time he came upon the scene.

"Emiya-san," Hibari-san greeted amicably.

"Hibari-san," Natsumi greeted back.

Neither tried to change how they addressed each other because the first year student was enjoying referring to the brothers 'Hibari-san, Hibari-sensei, Hibari-sempai' and the pastry chef would not use someone else's first name when the other wouldn't return the favor.

It only took another ten minutes to clean up and close the shop with the three's combined efforts.

But unlike the previous nights, I-Pin-chan opted to stay and sleep in the employee's quarters.

Usually, all three left the shop at the same time but would split midway, Hibari-san escorting the younger girl back to her apartment while Natsumi continued home.

Now, only the brunette high school student and the pastry chef were walking home together.

Natsumi did not know how to break the silence since she usually chattered with I-Pin-chan while Hibari-san remained silent.

_Should_ she even break the silence? Does Hibari-san prefer silence?

The safer choice seemed to be to not speak at all but she really feels uncomfortable.

Natsumi filled her head with idle thoughts of what else could she add to her 'too short' chapter. It was a rather effective way of ignoring the awkwardness.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Help, out of ideas*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

"Emiya-san?"

Natsumi jumped when Hibari Fon suddenly called out to her.

"W-What?" she asked and was gifted with an amused smile. She glared back. (The pastry chef thought it was like a kitten trying to look menacing…and failing at it.)

"We're here," Hibari-san pointed out.

Natsumi looked around and saw that she was so lost in her thoughts, she already passed by the gate to her house.

She went beet red, "R-Right. Good evening, Hibari-san."

"Good evening as well, Emiya-san," the pastry chef greeted back and his tone was pleasant enough.

Although Natsumi had the sneaking suspicion he was mentally laughing at her. She narrowed her eyes at him before turning around and backtracking to her gate.

She swore she heard an almost inaudible snicker.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*/Blush lines/*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi's embarrassment and frustration somehow fueled her lack of inspiration with enough vitriol to add more into her nearly finished chapter.

It ended up 30,000 words long.

Her editor was pleased.

The slave-driver.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I just found out that 'crow's feet' refers to lines around the eyes, I thought they were a description of a person's feet all this time. Basically, my life is a lie*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was so focused in releasing a special Valentine's Day Chapter for her novel on time that she completely forgot _any_ preparations for said holiday in the real life.

Thankfully, she had shopped for the usual ingredients a week ago or she'd have to push her way through female hopefuls just to buy some eggs.

Now, to list down the names of the people she'll give chocolates to.

Theres's her her brother…

…

…

Wow, she can't think of anyone else.

Her social life sucks.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line needs to go out more*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi decided to give the three male Hibaris their own Valentine's Chocolates.

She planned to give Skull-sempai some as well, for good measure.

All chocolates were shaped like rather thick coins 5cm in diameter and about 3cm tall. Some melted white chocolate was used to decorate them. For her brother she designed them like wacky picture frames; for Hibari-sempai she drew tonfas; skylarks for Hibari-sensei because handcuffs looked wrong somehow; for Hibari-san she attempted a Chinese dragon's face but it turned out looking funny so she decorated them like cakes instead; and for Skull-sempai she found purple food color to make the stalks of lavender more identifiable.

The female Emiya inspected the finished products and found them…acceptable.

She gave up and dismissed it as a bad job before turning in for the night.

Not like she'll magically become better at decorating sweets if she became even more sleep-deprived.

(Really, she's embarassed about her lack of skills in the presentation part of cooking.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Ɛ*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi left the box of chocolates for her brother in the fridge.

The boxes of chocolates for the three Hibaris were left in their mailbox. She had already closed said mailbox when she realized she never put names on the identical packages.

Heck _she_ can't remember whose box is whose.

The brunette was about to attempt to retrieve the wrapped chocolates when the Hibari home's front door opened revealing Hibari Alaude.

She froze.

Hibari-sensei merely arched an eyebrow.

Caught red-handed, Natsumi fled the scene.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This is a robbery, give me your chocolates*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

There were crates set up on one of the hallways labeled with the names of the popular male staffs and students.

Natsumi can't believe her eyes.

Is this normal?

This _is_ her first year and first Valentine's Day in Vongola High School.

The older students and the school staffs didn't seem to bat an eye as female students put their 'offerings' in the boxes.

Natsumi just shrugged and placed her own box of chocolates in the crate labeled 'Great Skull-sama'.

Skull-sempai's did not have many chocolates unlike Vongola-sensei's and Sinclair-sempai's whose own crates are already overflowing. She had to bend down inside in order to gently drop the chocolates in.

"Ho? The Lackey's?" a male voice suddenly asked from somewhere on Natsumi's right. She tilted her head up and saw Sinclair-sempai smirking down at her.

For the second time that day, Natsumi fled the scene.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*You don't need 8 hours of sleep – Eyebags*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Sawada-san has a very tall stack of chocolates to give away.

Natsumi did not envy her one bit. Especially since the stack looked _really_ heavy. Considering Gokudera-san and Yamamoto-san were still carrying more, it just seemed so troublesome having to distribute them one by one.

Natsumi only needed to give away four and it was already such a hassle. Sawada-san is probably gonna expend much more effort with how many packages those were.

Especially when another brawl broke out between the males clamoring for some of the amber-eyed girl's homemade chocolates.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Help, this line needs more ideas (and chocolates)*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Their Home Economics Class was set aside for those who still haven't made their Valentine's Chocolate yet, or in Sawada-san's case, those that _ran out of them_.

Natsumi had the currently ignored cookie mix to herself and decided to do some baking instead.

She shaped them into cute little animals. Hmm…whom to give these to?

Or maybe she could eat them all instead?

Nah, maybe the kids in the orphanage would love them.

Pity there was no chocolate chips to spare when the haggard female students decided to horde them.

She hoped the kids would still love them nonetheless.

Natsumi left the homeroom kitchen just in time as the horde of romantic hopefuls finally blew up under the stress and had started throwing things at each other.

Poor Sawada-san is trying to calm everyone down with about as much success as the time she tried to calm the boys down. Which is none at all.

Time to call the senseis.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line has a butter knife and is not afraid to use it*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi's lunchbreak was interrupted by _another_ brawl for Sawada-san's newly made chocolates.

It ended up toppling Natsumi's barely touched lunchbox.

She did not want to know why her cry of 'My burgersteak!' made the Demon Prefect more vicious.

Nor why Hibari-sempai looked more upset about her spilled lunch than her.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Just five more minutes – Top Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi _swore_ Hibari-sensei's gaze lingered at her for a bit longer.

She could console herself that at least it wasn't as long as his near-stare at Sawada-san.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Beware, a competitive line ahead*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

In Natsumi's opinion, a competition such as the one she is looking at right now should _not_ be held.

What the heck does this accomplish other than inflate those males' egos more?!

Apparently, from the crates of chocolates assigned to each male staffs/students, one box of chocolate would be picked randomly and judged based on their taste and decoration.

The winner didn't really win anything other than bragging rights.

Here's some examples of how the stupid fanfare went.

Vongola Xanxus' chocolates looked like some sort of gun, only deformed. It turns it wasn't even chocolate, it was chocolate-covered steak.

Yamamoto Takeshi's box didn't even contain chocolate, it has sushi rolls inside.

Gokudera Hayato's chocolates were defaulted after finding out they were store-bought.

Sinclair Renato's chocolates were suspiciously _glowing _purple…and somehow alive because it was definitely wiggling. (Natsumi was privately reminded of the purple food that could melt dynamite.)

Hibari Alaude was not amused to find out his own box of chocolates contained chocolate-covered handcuffs.

Of course there were others, like Cavallone Dino's whose chocolates were plain ones and was judged to taste average but Cavallone-sempai thanked the one who gave them anyway. (The girl promptly fainted.)

There were outrageously decorated ones like Belphegor-san's whose chocolates looked like it had been splashed with blood. (Cross fingers that it wasn't actual blood.)

Colonello-sempai's chocolates didn't even reach him because they were promptly destroyed by his not-girlfriend, Lal-sempai.

Elena-sensei also destroyed the chocolates gifted to her husband, Spade Daemon-sensei, in an amazing display of skill in tridents. (Was Elena-sensei the one who taught Rokudo-san?)

And then Skull-sempai's chocolates were presented next.

It was Natsumi's.

She _did not_ need to know their opinions on her mediocre decorating skills. Nor that the lavender stalks didn't look like lavender stalks at all.

Although the brunette did need to stop herself from preening when her chocolates were judged as the best tasting one.

Hers was still the best-tasting even after Sawada-san's chocolate for Hibari-sempai was judged next.

Sawada-san's chocolates still won the competition because Natsumi's points were heavily deducted for the sh*tty décor.

Natsumi doesn't care, _best-tasting _still goes to _her_.

She'll definitely brag about it to her brother.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is gonna be the very best (like no line ever was)*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

**OMAKE ('cause why not):**

Renato Sinclair's crate had the most chocolates according to the official tallying.

"I win, Lackey," Renato, or Reborn as he preferred, announced.

Skull de Mort, who unfortunately is the one called 'Lackey', squawked in indignation but there was no contest. He barely filled half his own crate. But it didn't stop him from arguing back about quality being a lot better than quantity. And Skull-sama's chocolate _definitely_ had more quality than Reborn's!

The other male did not take that retort lying down.

Soon, chaos ensued.

Luce di Giglio Nero sighed at her friends' antics, "Reborn, please stop bullying Skull."

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Bonus Line!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi had happily chattered to Emiya Tatsuya how her chocolate was judged as the _best-tasting_ ones even against one of the trio who won a schoolwide cooking competition.

But immediately deflated when she confessed she lost because of her sh*tty decorating skills.

Tatsuya froze in the middle mincing some onions.

The female Emiya would later regret ever mentioning her subpar decorating skills.

She thought her editor was a slave-driver, her brother was _worse_.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**So…what do you think of this chapter?**

**.**

**I just want to thank ****Grazi-chan****, **_**HatethePlayer-NevertheGame**_**, ****Animeisheaven****, **_**foxchick1**_**, ****Hipergirl****, _princejian .gz,_ ****konan248.**** Thank you for the support!**

**.**

**Whenever I look at the amount of views I got I couldn't stop smiling. I am so happy so many read this story. Thank you again!**

**.**

**I rushed updating today because I probably won't be able to do it this weekend. I'm going back to my hometown for some time with my family. (Yay for Mom's cooking!) It's the reason why I wasn't able to edit Chapter 2 and why you probably would see a lot of minor errors in this chapter.**

**I'll fix it on the next update I promise!**

**I hope to see you next week!**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4:**

**You're still here! *cries***

**So here's the overdue Chapter 4! I hope you like it!**

**I will also be uploading the edited chapters when I finally get this story completed instead because I realized that updating anything on any of the previous chapters would send it right back up the archive list and I kinda feel bad about it showing up there when people are expecting an update.**

**ALSO! Thank you for reading this far! I appreciate every view, review, follow and favorite!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**.**

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**.**

Sinclair Renato stared at a kohai he came upon while waiting at the house across from his (as is his usual schedule).

Said kohai stared back as blandly as she could.

She probably would never have been able to this in any normal circumstance but she was sleep-deprived and _in pain_ dammit.

She never wanted to _pee blood_ monthly! Why did she have to be _a girl_?!

"Do I know you?" Sinclair-sempai asked.

She _really_ wants to lie down and wallow in misery but the manners instilled in her shone through, "I'm one of Sawada-san's classmates, Sinclair-sempai."

"Ho? Nice to meet you. May I know your name, Miss…?"

"It is very nice to formally meet you too, Sinclair-sempai. My name is Emiya Natsumi," she droned, now currently fantasizing about one of the clinic's nice cots and maybe some hot compress. If she drank any more Advil she'll probably overdose. Maybe she should just turn around and go home? She couldn't find her hot compress though. Did she bring any pads? The female bathrooms usually only had tampons and they feel weird to her so she doesn't use them.

Reborn immediately tried to get out of his kohai's mind and tried to shut away the images of blood waterfalls, evil tampons with pitchforks and golden-haloed hot compress with wings made of pads.

Some days he cursed his mind-reading abilities.

"If you are feeling unwell, may I recommend staying home?" he suggested.

"I'll live. See you around Sinclair-sempai," Emiya-san replied as she fantasized stealing one of Belphegor's knives and eviscerating some male's vital regions for the crime of being _male_ and getting exempt from_ this d*mn pain_.

Reborn discretely tried to take a step away from the female kohai he would take careful note to avoid for the better part of the week.

You know, in case she 'found' one of those silver knives.

Those images of _what_ she was going to do to the above-mentioned vital regions were _really_ detailed.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Waking up surrounded by a pool of your own blood? We do it monthly - Women*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi went straight to the clinic of their school, not even bothering to drop her things by her locker or her homeroom chair.

Dr. Shamal was sympathetic of her plight and let her lie down on one of the cots, even giving her an electric heating pad to herself.

She had also been allowed to sleep the pain away.

It was blissful oblivion until she was suddenly woken up by a loud clang of metal against metal.

Natsumi was unsure how to feel about getting so used to the sounds of an on-going battle royale that she only woke up because something hit the metal frame of her cot that made it give off a high-pitch ringing sound.

From what she could make out of the random yells, it seems like Sawada-san had a fainting spell that sent her fanboys into a panic attack, most vocal of which is Gokudera-san and Vongola-sensei.

They seemed to be watching Dr. Shamal's every movement too.

Natsumi sighed and closed her eyes. She somehow went back to sleep.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Sweet mercy of dark chocolates!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Sawada-san and some of her fan club members somehow ended up volunteering at the orphanage Natsumi frequented.

The straight-haired brunette was glad. The children were energetic and ultimately outnumbered Natsumi one to too many. With the new volunteers' numbers she was sure that they'll be able to split the children's attention enough that the new volunteers won't get outlasted through sheer number.

Vongola-sensei was under a tree, apparently answering a stream of endless questions from 5-7 year olds because 'he's a teacher so he knows everything.'

About a dozen kids decided they wanted to climb Cavallone-sempai, Gokudera-san and Cozart-san like a jungle gym. Although Gokudera-san was yelling at the children and Cavallone-sempai was trying to calm the kids down while trying to keep his balance, it seems like Cozart-san was already resigned to his fate. Like he has any other choice, he was already on the ground being dog piled.

Yamamoto-san, as expected, was teaching a few kids to play catch. Natsumi just hoped the kids come out unscathed. The baseball player _does not_ hold back.

Sinclair-sempai was playing soccer (or more like kick-the-ball-randomly) with five other kids while somehow also simultaneously playing dodgeball with three others. He was also wearing a smirk that was making the children frustrated as minutes ticked by without either losing the soccer ball or getting hit.

Skull-sempai had already gathered an audience, retelling stories of his past stunts. She should tell the children not to attempt to replicate any of what the purple-haired sempai bragged about and then warn the caretakers to keep an eye on them.

Rokudo-sempai was with his own gathered audience though they were whispering. Natsumi narrowed her eyes because those particular children were the pranksters and troublemakers.

And as expected, Sawada-san was a hit with the younger children.

Natsumi suppressed a sigh when some members of the fan club began gawking at the sight of a 'motherly' Sawada-san.

Apparently enough of a distraction that Sinclair-sempai got a worn soccer ball to the gut for not paying enough attention to his own set of kids.

Natsumi opted to help the cooks in the kitchen that week.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Inspired? More like expired*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was a week before White Day.

Natsumi would have forgotten about said special occasion if it weren't for her editor's demand of a special chapter dedicated to the holiday.

Preferably a special sequel for that short romance story about the 30-year old woman, only this time it was an account of the males scrambling for something to give to the protagonist.

Preferably in the same length of _40,000 words_.

Natsumi wants to cry.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*'Desperation' is the most effective kind of inspiration*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi somehow met that atrocious deadline.

She promptly slept a whole day away out of sheer sleep-deprivation since about half of what she wrote was fueled by last-minute or more accurately hours-before-deadline panic.

When she finally resurfaced that Sunday if only to buy some sweets to reward herself, she only briefly checked in to make sure the orphanage didn't need an extra hand before going straight to her favorite patisserie.

Natsumi is fully aware that she might have been gaining some weight. Her brother had made it his mission to point it out as often as he could but she couldn't care less right now. She deserved those sweets after such a horrible week!

After greeting I-Pin, Natsumi browsed the selection of flavors to pick which one would be her brunch.

She was savoring her choco-cherry torte, relishing the peace and worry-free day with no deadlines looming.

And then, there was a distant sound of a stampede, some explosions and what sounds like gunshots.

Which almost made Natsumi almost break down crying.

Where has her peace gone?

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Bang bang into the roof!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was surprised to see a gift inside her mailbox. It was from the three Hibaris.

She carefully removed the light pink wrapping paper patterned with snowflakes, vowing to preserve it. She gently opened the dark blue box revealing a selection of hair ties and hair pins.

She loved them and swore to search for tutorials in styling hair.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I don't know what a French braid is but I do know what French bread is*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The next week, Natsumi wore her hair in a high ponytail with a hair tie adorned with little plastic blueberries. (She attempted to braid a section then loop it around the tie but it just squished the adorable blueberries so she opted for a plain ponytail.)

Hibari-sempai paused a little at the sight of it.

Hibari-sensei had a slight smirk she didn't know if directed at Sawada-san or her.

Hibari-san gave her a free slice of cake.

Overall it was a nice Monday for a change.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This is a nice line that is reminding you that you are awesome in your own way*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Tatsuya was able to get a call through even though he had to stand on someone's roof for a consistent connection.

The usual updates on both sides was over but instead of ending the call, Natsumi was now going on about some problem with her novel.

(It was definitely not just an excuse to extend the call with her older brother, the female Emiya would testify.)

"_I'm reluctant at introducing a new character this late and so close to the ending. I'm sure my editor wouldn't approve of it,_" Natsumi confessed from the other side of the line.

"Then why ask me if your editor would likely say no?" Tatsuya asked with a roll of his eyes.

"_Because I really can't see a way for the main protagonist to get out of the trap without any outside help,_" she whined.

"Why did he walk into that trap again? He knew it was a trap, right?"

"_Because he's desperate to find his sister and a clue was dangled in front of him as a bait,_" now his sister sounded annoyed at him for forgetting a detail about her book. How cute.

"Why not get rescued by the sister then?"

There was a pause.

"_That's so cliché Tatsu-nii_."

"I know, I know! But hear me out! What if he just _suspects_ it was his sister but the rescuer firmly denies it? He'd try to corner her but she'd be able to slip."

"…_still sounds cliché to me_."

Tatsuya scoffed, "Fine! Don't use any of my ideas then!"

There was a snicker at the other end of the line. "_Don't worry Tatsu-nii, I think I'll be able to work with that idea. I mean, if she'll insist to run away, the novel won't get cut off too soon. Plus, there has to be a reason why she doesn't want to be found yet so I could maybe use that for the next novel._"

He frowned at that, "Won't you get some backlash for deciding that? Don't you usually ask for a poll on which character would your next book be about?"

"_It'll be fine…probably…_"

That wasn't comforting at all.

But before Tatsuya could comment on that, their guide was already calling for him to come down. It was apparently time to go.

"_You should go now, Tatsu-nii. The man shouting didn't sound too happy._"

He snorted, "Nah, he's just like that."

"_Uh-huh. Whatever. I love you. Stay safe and see you when I see you._"

"I love you too and take care. See you when I see you."

The call ended. Time to find some beavers building their wooden dams.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Dam line break! Haha, overused pun…haha…ha…ha*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi sighed as she put the receiver of the phone back to its proper place.

She knew her older brother's concerns about the potential backlash she might get for that decision were not unfounded.

The first book of her series was about a scribe that fell in love with a noble's daughter. Or your classic forbidden love between classes. Thank her editor's patience for correcting all the things she got wrong about ancient china. (She was sorry for describing a 420-589AD traditional dress when her story was set during 200BCE okay?!)

For the second book, her publisher had the idea of creating a poll to decide which of the numerous background characters would be chosen to be the focus of the book. In the end, the poll decided on the foreigner that briefly accompanied the scribe for about a month. Both warrior and scribe were travelling to the eastern seas for tasks assigned to them. For the warrior, it was to prove himself loyal by retrieving a unique fish from the eastern seas.

The third book's poll winner was one of the witnesses in the conspiracy against the warrior from the second book. A normal chambermaid by all standards so she wasn't suspected of helping clear the warrior's name until it was too late. This was a bit difficult to write for Natsumi because it was more focused in politics, deceit, reading body language and manipulation.

It gave her practice for the chosen protagonist of the fourth book though. It was about an attendee of the wedding between the warrior and the chambermaid. The attendee turns out to be a princess traveling from her home kingdom to another for an arranged marriage. She snuck out to witness a wedding borne of true and enduring love. The princess and her husband have no love for each other but that doesn't mean they couldn't be partners. And together the two had defended their kingdom, their titles and their reputations while they watched each other's backs and stood as equals.

Which brought her to the latest protagonist of her fifth and current book, a soldier from the kingdom the princess had wed into. The soldier's sister went missing so he left the kingdom, giving up everything he had strived to be, just to find her. He was mentioned to have helped the scribe and noble's daughter flee to the warrior and chambermaid's country. Which is why Natsumi was a bit stressed about the plotline almost concluding itself. It was mentioned in book 3 that the soldier had a jagged scar on his temple and following through on a clue about his sister's whereabouts that needed to be followed immediately.

There was no jagged scar yet. There was no clue that needed to be followed immediately. It was still two months before the scene in book 3.

Natsumi buried her face on her pillow and decided to sleep on it.

A less stressed mind might have a better clue on what she could do.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*End of boring details, the author apologizes for not giving ample warning. B-but the pun-!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi received a package from one of her childhood friends from America.

What was inside was one of the most precious gifts she had received to date.

The note said:

_I met him unexpectedly at a restaurant and immediately thought of you, I remember how much of a Keanu Reeves fan you are. I got you an autograph from him, separate from mine of course :P_

.

It was an autograph of Keanu Reeves, wishing her the best in life and admiring her strength for being able to go through so much and still keep on going.

_An autograph from Keanu Reeves_.

Natsumi is going to buy the most expensive frame she could currently afford and hang it near the wall with her family's pictures.

It's her most precious treasure now.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*My…precious…*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was so excited to share the news of her new precious property to I-Pin that she nearly toppled the poor girl when she tackled her. She didn't even give the waitress time to recover and started to happily chatter to her about the autograph and how her friend was so lucky to have met such a handsome and kind and humble man. Before going on a tangent on what she'll do once they do meet.

"…and maybe he'll let me give him a hug! Oh, what do I say to him?" Natsumi trailed off because would she even be coherent enough when face-to-face with her crush since childhood?

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*So…yeah…uhmm…uh…hi…?*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi's Keanu Reeves-fueled enthusiasm lasted her all through the end of the semester.

She got perfect exam scores for _every_ subject.

Natsumi _did _end up on top of the class due to the three males' work ethic, just as she predicted.

Her editor d*mn near cried for the longer chapters and bonus scenes.

Her brother was happy _she_ was happy.

She was riding so high that she should have known she'll fall back down to the ground _hard_ and end up burying herself a few feet under.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Crash landing in T minus 2 minutes*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Tatsuya had promised to be home on her awarding ceremony for having the top grade amongst her fellow freshmen.

Only to inform her two days prior to the ceremony that he wouldn't make it.

Which is fine, they scheduled a karaoke night together instead and already had the room reserved in advance.

(It's just fine to Natsumi, she told herself. Then repeated it to herself over and over again like a mantra until she believed it.)

Natsumi had to go to the school's stadium alone. She had to sit alone while family conversed together, giving each other proud looks, joking about this and that, introducing and getting introduced to other attendees.

(She's okay. She's not gonna cry. Everything was okay. She's smiling because she's happy today. Why else would there be a smile on her face? There wouldn't be such a happy expression on her face if she wasn't _happy_. She's smiling therefore she's happy. Simple logic. She's happy. _She's happy_. Why wouldn't she be? _Is there a reason _not _to be_? It's not like she's hoping his brother was lying and planning to surprise her or anything.)

The brief confusion on Vongola Timoteo-sensei's face when Natsumi received her award alone was okay.

(She's okay because she's smiling. Someone smiling means their happy, right? She's happy and smiling right now so she's okay. The principal's understanding face did not hurt at all. _She's happy and okay_. Her hope died in her heart.)

When the ceremony was over and the others ran towards their family proudly presenting their achievement, she didn't run out of the venue.

She just walked faster than normal because nature was calling and she wanted to use her house's bathroom instead of taking her chances with the probably crowded public ones at school.

(There's no other reason, she swears. It was just dust getting into eyes that got her teary, she swears. _She didn't cry the whole night, she swears_. Her heart hurts.)

It was the day they scheduled their karaoke night and there was no update from her brother.

Natsumi waited alone for hours while the room next to hers blasted music, different voices singing.

She waited past curfew for those under 18.

By the time she heard the people from next door winding down and starting to end their own party, she was completely miserable.

She left without singing a single song.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line's chest hurts and it doesn't even have a chest. Help.*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was crying her eyes out on one of the swings, in a random playground she ran to when she just couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

When the ache in her chest finally subsided to manageable levels, she finally realized how dangerous it was for an underage girl to still be out way pass curfew.

She was almost afraid to remove the handkerchief she pressed her face into.

The playground might be well-lit but there's no guarantee what she'll see after she took a look at her surroundings.

(Hopefully) Noone? A shady man? A ghost peeping out of the trees where the light doesn't reach?

The sound of crunching plastic made Natsumi's fear-levels double and she waited for something to happen to her.

But nothing…

Was it a stray animal that stepped on a plastic wrapper discarded somewhere in front of her?

It doesn't sound like it. In fact, it sounded like someone opening a plastic wrapper.

Natsumi suddenly panicked about whatever it was that was just unwrapped being used against her but nothing was still happening.

She's painfully aware that she was shaking in fright now.

Sniffing pathetically, she slowly removed the handkerchief in front of her face.

With her eyes still closed. She doesn't ever want to open them but she had to. If only to have even just a bit of knowledge on what the threat was. Logically.

It doesn't mean she wanted to do this at all.

Whimpering and gulping she opened her eyes and saw something very white in the vague shape of a man.

She screamed.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This is a Smol line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It turns out it wasn't a ghost or a shady man.

It was a marshmallow-eating albino wearing mostly white. (Was that any better? Natsumi was of the opinion that the answer is 'no'.)

In Natsumi's defense, her eyes were still blurry from tears so she couldn't make him out clearly and mistook him for a ghost.

Of course she screamed at his face.

He scared her! He has no reason to demand her to compensate him for anything!

Not burst eardrums or hurt feelings!

(Natsumi couldn't help but shiver at the smile on the older teen's lips. He looked like he was about to demand her soul as payment.)

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**Is this a cliffhanger? I kind of left that scene hanging when I cut it off there on purpose. It's definitely not because I was having a hard time writing Byakuran down accurately. Definitely not!**

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**Special thanks to ****konan248****, **_**Glyza**_**, ****michelous****, **_**shadesnake**_**, ****GinryuFox****, **_**Hawthorn96**_**, ****Frozen-Roses-77****, **_**Luna-Zeta**_**, ****ShisuiOfDaBodyFlick****, **_**balancewarlord**_** for the reviews, follows and favorites!**

**.**

**Cheers to the people who got the reference on the last line *wink* *wink***


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5:**

**Another chapter! YAY!**

**Thank you for continuing to read A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character!**

**So this chapter is a bit later than I would have liked…**

**Byakuran is STILL a very hard character to write so forgive me if he's a bit OOC. Actually, forgive me if any of the characters are a bit OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I do not Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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"No," Natsumi flatly said.

"Why not?" the albino she still doesn't know the name of asked with a bit of a whine in his voice.

Frankly, the situation Natsumi was in right now could have come out of a romance scene. There she was crying alone in the playground/park because of how unfair life had been recently when suddenly a handsome young man approaches her to comfort her. They talk a bit and now the guy is insisting he follow her home.

Except there's nothing romantic about the whole thing.

Natsumi _had_ been crying alone in the playground (during 1 freaking a.m.) because life had been throwing too much lemons at her recently and she's getting sick of lemon juice. The young man dressed in white (seriously, what's with his clothes? Did he just got out of some sort of cosplay event?) didn't approach her to comfort her though. The albino just stopped in front of her and then ate his bag of marshmallows while watching her freak out. They had an argument, not some deep conversation, because the guy had the gall to demand some sort of compensation when she screamed at his face for scaring her.

He was also insisting on following her home not because he was concerned about her getting home safe at this late hour but because quoting his words 'feeding him is the least she could do after bursting his eardrums.'

Natsumi was very much tempted to scream 'b*llsh*t' or maybe 'f*ck off'.

And she still doesn't know his name.

She took a deep breath instead to calm herself because she's still alone with a guy in an empty playground and she was d*mn sure that if the guy had wanted to harm her she wouldn't be able outrun or overpower him. The best she could do is scream for help.

Looking at the guy, he didn't seem to be someone who'd hit a girl for being rude to him.

No, the girl would probably just go through a series of unfortunate events and make everyone dismiss the whole thing as extremely bad luck.

And Natsumi already had enough bad luck that she didn't need the albino to add more of his own version of 'bad luck'.

Very, _very_ reluctantly, she gave in to his (irrational) demand and just let him follow her home.

Natsumi would have happily spent the walk in silence but the older teen (who she _still_ doesn't know the name of) just had to open his mouth.

And then they got into another argument.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The author does not promote inviting strangers into your home*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The older teen…was not a bad conversationalist, Natsumi has to give him that.

"…and I really think their only fault was being born in such a situation," she reasoned.

"Sometimes being born in the wrong place at the wrong time is a misfortune one just must live by. Being born an unfortunate is not their fault, _dying _with no improvement in their lifestyle is _their_ fault," the albino answered.

They were currently having a conversation about children born in poverty and why they must be helped, at least be given an opportunity for a better life. Well, Natsumi is of that opinion. She thinks the white-haired teen is just arguing with her for the sake of arguing.

"How is it a _baby's _fault his family could not afford for him a lifestyle that would extend his life beyond toddlerhood?"

"If said family could not afford a baby, why have one?"

"Because some people are not educated enough to know their options, they probably couldn't afford education if they can't even afford an extra mouth to feed. Maybe education itself isn't even available where they live."

He looked a bit amused at that, "I was of the opinion we are talking about street dwellers in cities."

"Three words, _Third World Countries_."

"Most of them have good educational programs."

"The problem is the _reach_ of those 'good educational programs'."

"…why are we talking about this again?"

Natsumi glared at him then scoffed, "Because you changed the topic, which you are trying to do now _again_." Truth told, she really doesn't remember what their original topic was either, just that she felt strongly about it and just wanted to argue her point.

Which she's also dong now…

How does he know what makes her tick anyway?

"Gesso," a male voice suddenly said and it startled Natsumi because as far as she was aware it was just her and the albino still out on the streets that late.

She turned her head forward and saw Hibari-sensei leaning at the gate to his own house like it was perfectly normal to be leaning at your gate at half past 1am in the morning. His arms were crossed and he was glaring at the albino beside her. He looked like he was still in his outdoor clothes consisting of loose pants and light purple V-neck shirt. (Natsumi was tempted to call the color of the shirt 'lavender' but she just couldn't use 'lavender' as a description for Hibari-sensei even if it was just his shirt.)

More importantly, is 'Gesso' the older teen's name? Or is it a greeting? Or a word in a language she has no knowledge of?

(Which just reminded her that she _still_ doesn't know his name!)

"Alaude! Good morning!~ Fancy meeting you in front of your house this late. Or is it this early?"

That made the brunette stare at the white-haired teen like he was insane. To call the scariest sensei of Vongola High by his first name so casually…does he have a death wish? Why commit suicide while she's nearby? Is he trying to get her killed alongside him?

"Curfew had passed three hours and thirty two minutes ago," the blond sensei pointed out instead.

_Oh sh*t_, Natsumi immeadiately thought as the History teacher's brows furrowed in irritation.

Hibari-sensei is _pissed_.

And the stupidly suicidal albino just smirked at him before putting his arm over the brunette's shoulders, "Ah sorry, we'll just go inside then." The older teen did not sound the slightest bit apologetic.

It just made the blond angrier as he reached for something.

"I'll cuff you to death."

To Natsumi's ears, it sounded like her doom.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Don't stay out too late, it irritates skylarks*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

3am found Natsumi serving tea to two guests at her home. One was her History teacher and neighbor while the other is an older teen she still doesn't know the name of.

Both looked rather rumpled but neither was seriously injured.

"I'll make us something to eat. _Don't_ fight in my living room or you'll pay for everything you break," Natsumi warned.

Hibari-sensei gave a small nod.

Meanwhile the albino cheerfully told her, "I don't mind paying for what I destroy~"

She narrowed her eyes at that because from what she had gleaned from his personality so far, he'll find a way _not_ to pay a cent even if he manages to destroy her whole house.

Natsumi dismissed it as a 'hopefully would never be my problem' case and proceeded to walk back to her kitchen.

"And by the way," the white-haired teen suddenly called out which forced Natsumi to turn back to them, "we never got to exchange names. My name is Gesso Byakuran."

Natsumi regretted every decision she made in her life.

Because Gesso-san's not so innocent remark made Hibari-sensei violently twitch.

"Please don't start a fight inside my house," the brunette weakly pleaded with a whimper.

Miraculously, Hibari-sensei stopped reaching for his weapon.

The older teen is _still_ wearing a sh*t-eating grin on his face, like he just discovered an awesome cheatcode and couldn't wait to it try out.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Drink plenty of water…and pee constantly*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi served them a bowl each of the vegetable stir fry she cooked.

It wasn't anything special, just something quick and easy. Because despite of the tension in the room, Natsumi was getting rather sleepy and she wanted to be reunited with her bed already.

In fact, she had her eyes close 'temporarily' when the doorbell rang repeatedly.

"_Byakuran!_" a muffled voice yelled from the other side of the door. It sounded awfully familiar to Natsumi.

She groaned before rushing to the front door.

It was Vongola-sensei.

"BYAKURAN!" the Math teacher yelled as soon as the door cracked open but looked surprised when he found one of his students behind the door instead.

"You don't have to shout this early in the morning Sensei," Natsumi deadpanned before opening the door wider.

The Vongola Heir had the decency to blush and stutter out an apology before excusing himself to enter her home. He immediately spotted the two sitting in the living room.

The space-saving set in the living room was composed of two armchairs facing each other, the two-sitter couch opposite the TV and a low coffee table in the middle.

Hibari-sensei and Gesso-san sat opposite each other on the armchairs and Vongola-sensei immediately sat on the couch near the white-haired teen.

She offered to make some tea but the Math teacher declined and told her to sit beside him on the couch. Once she was seated, Vongola-sensei then proceeded to give them a lecture.

For Natsumi, it was about why she shouldn't stay out too late and way past curfew. Then the Vongola Heir proceeded to lecture her about not letting strangers inside her house no matter how pushy they are. (A look was sent at Gesso-san's direction but the teen just continued eating the bag of marshmallows he pulled out of nowhere.)

For Gesso-san, Vongola-sensei seemed to have prepared a speech that went on and on for too long starting on _not _sneaking out and losing his guards. Then why heirs shouldn't stay out too late unaccompanied because what is something happened to him? By the time the lecture was covering appropriate behavior and why one shouldn't force people to host them and cook for them, Natsumi's eyes were closing on their own.

She doesn't remember falling asleep.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Having a full stomach makes one sleepy*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi woke up tucked into her bed and she wondered if everything that happened last night was just a bad dream.

.

Nah, she wasn't that lucky.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I don't remember half the things I do when half-asleep*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was spring-cleaning her room when the doorbell rang. She hurried downstairs, still dripping with sweat and her hands with dirty water when she opened the door.

It was her brother and a woman around his age.

Natsumi slammed the door at them before locking it again.

She ignored the frantic apologies and retrieved the pail of dirty water from her room. She had been using it to wash and rewash the cloth she had been using to wipe off dust and it was already a dark greyish brown.

When Natsumi opened the door again, it was immediately followed by her throwing the dirty water at Tatsuya's face before slamming the door back again.

He didn't call to say his arrival was delayed. He didn't even answer her calls.

Part of Natsumi was angry but part of her was relieved that her brother was okay.

But since her brother didn't seem like he was injured or sick, Natsumi settled on letting anger win out.

It didn't take long for the door to open again, letting in a dripping wet Tatsuya.

"Natsumi! That was uncalled for!" the male Emiya yelled.

The female Emiya was taken aback at first that her brother raised his voice at her but it quickly turned back to anger as she yelled back, "You didn't update me about being delayed! I was so worried you b*stard!"

"It was out of my control!"

"You didn't even call to‒"

"My phone died and‒"

"You could've charged your phone _then_ called me, you‒"

"_You know_ how stingy they are about‒!"

"_Stop. It._" The woman with Tatsuya intervened, even physically getting in between the siblings. She was quite taller than Natsumi, probably about 5ft8 to her 5ft1. She was curvy but she didn't look soft. In fact, her arms were muscled and her build was quite athletic. Her straight black hair was tied in a high ponytail. She has an aquiline nose, but her features were East Asian's down to the shape of her light brown eyes.

The woman turned to Natsumi and said, "You calm yourself down first. You go and take a shower." The last sentence was directed at Tatsuya.

The high school student just huffed before washing what she could in the sink while the elder brother went straight to the only bathroom in the house.

The woman just sighed at that.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I'm all out of lines, I'm so lost without them*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Thankfully, Tatsuya had already made a habit of putting important documents and gadgets inside waterproof plastic bags so anything of his that did get wet wasn't anything irreplaceable or washable.

Natsumi patiently listened as her older brother explained how the truck they hitched a ride with broke down. They had to wait for either rescue to arrive or the next truck to pass through. In the end, the next truck was faster but the route was different so they needed to ride a bus then a taxi to the airport. Their original flight was long gone but luckily the next one was just about to leave so they immediately got two tickets and boarded the plane. He only discovered his phone was dying when they were already calling for the passengers to put their seatbelts on. He had asked inflight if he could charge his phone somewhere and was denied. The plane then decided to circle a few times because of _air traffic_. Namimori was just two hours away from Tokyo and they decided to just head straight here without calling because it's been a long journey and they just really wanted to sleep.

By the end of it, Natsumi was already feeling quite guilty.

She immediately ushered them upstairs, Tatsuya to his room and the woman to the guest bedroom.

The two females barely had time to introduce themselves to each other, the woman's name was Arabella Williams, before the two crashed into their respective beds, exhausted.

Natsumi will just have to tease Tatsuya about his girlfriend some other time.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Too exhausted to be witty – this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The second floor of the Emiya Residence was divided into four rooms, three bedrooms, a common bathroom and a study/library, the latter of which Natsumi had added a new bookshelf dedicated to novels and atlases.

The first floor was divided into the living room, the kitchen attached to the dining room and lastly the garage. The attic was filled with random knickknacks and boxes of memories while the basement was the laundry room and where the ancient heater was located.

Natsumi, thanks to popularized movies and series, hated going to the basement because obviously that's where the supernatural beings hang out other than the attic. She wouldn't dare enter the place unless it's fully lit.

Thanks to soaking her brother's clothes with dirty water, Natsumi had to go back to that dreaded place outside of the designated laundry day. The travelling bag that was unfortunately slung on his shoulders when he got a face full of water was also thrown inside the washing machine. She made sure to empty all the numerous pockets and threw in what was machine washable, set aside what wasn't and laid down to dry everything else.

In other words she just made more work for herself. She could only blame herself for this.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line lists down exhaustion as reason for quitting its job*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The two didn't wake up until the next morning. Natsumi didn't bother waking them up for dinner after peeking into their rooms and finding both sound asleep.

The female Emiya served them some omelet rice and preened when they praised how delicious they were.

The youngest in the room then told Tatsuya what happened to his belongings, "I washed what I could but I just laid out the rest to dry."

Her older brother thanked her and she smiled back in relief.

The high school student's smile morphed into a smirk as she turned to the other female in the room.

Time to regale her with the stories of Tatsuya's childhood misadventures.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Too exhausted to be witty – this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The rest of the day was spent spring cleaning and with Natsumi already cleaning most of the rooms yesterday, the three of them only needed to clean the attic, the garage and the basement.

There was no way Natsumi was tackling those without back-up.

The three exchanged stories as they cleaned and the female Emiya was cackling at how awkward her brother was.

"He seriously _stalked_ you?!" the only brunette asked in disbelief.

"I _did not_ stalk her! It was not _stalking_!" the male blackette interjected.

"For six months he managed to track down where I was most of the time and somehow show up there 'for a project'," the female blackette said, pretending not to hear her boyfriend's rebuke.

"It was a coincidence! We were just in the same area!" Tatsuya insisted.

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that after you confessed to me how much you like seeing me at my element," Ara, as she preferred to be called, countered with a smirk.

Natsumi cackled.

Ara's profession was finding new trails for hiking and making sure there were noticeable landmarks and of course, that the trail was safe.

Tatsuya started muttering something under his breath that the younger Emiya couldn't quite catch.

"What happened next?" the brunette prompted.

"B*llsy photographer approached my group, me in particular. After that he kind of just grew on me like some sort of persistent fungus."

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The author can't remember making half the lines above last night*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The three decided to eat out for lunch because none of them remembered cooking.

They decided to eat at the nearest fastfood restaurant, seeing as they needed to get back to cleaning immediately ("When was the last time you cleaned the basement?" "…s-shut up!").

Despite eating at the same place numerous times already, Natsumi found that she was enjoying this a bit more now.

Probably because she wasn't eating alone.

Most definitely not because Ara is regaling her with anecdotes of her brother's awkward ways of showing affection.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*To those brave enough to dine alone in public instead of just getting a takeout, we salute you ‒ League of Lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Thankfully, the cleaning was finished late that afternoon. When dinner was brought up though, none seemed to have the energy to cook anything.

Thus, after getting a quick shower (again), they went out for dinner and Natsumi had a place in mind to take them.

TakeSushi, the best sushi restaurant in town.

Ara decided to buy a bit of everything in the menu, curious as to how they would taste.

The older female probably saw the look of alarm on Natsumi's face because she smirked at her and said, "Don't worry, I'm paying tonight."

"T-That's not what I'm worried about! Can we eat all of that?" the brunette asked.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi is truly a master of his element because of the wide range of dishes he could make.

"_Oh ye of little faith_," Ara replied in English, making a show of putting a hand over her heart.

The high school student blushed a little at that though she absentmindedly noted that the young woman's accent didn't seem to be from any part of the US she knows. Maybe another country?

"Don't worry Natsu, Ara has a big apetite," her Tatsu-nii reassured her.

"I especially like eating more at night it seems, even though apparently that's inadvisable," Ara confessed.

"Inadvisable? Why?" the female Emiya asked.

"Something about being inactive at night or whatever. I wasn't listening much when I got the lecture," the older female answered with a shrug.

"You should have listened if it's about your health!" Tatsuya interjected.

Ara just snorted at that, "She wasn't a doctor or a nutritionist. She's a sales agent trying to make me buy diet pills."

The male Emiya blinked at that.

"She could have been telling the truth, she would have made a bad representative of a product if she lied to customers just to sell something," Natsumi pointed out.

The couple turned her in sync. The male blackette blinked at her and the female blackette looked at her like she said something funny.

"Poor, naïve little girl," the older female cooed at her.

…what?

The two then just continued eating and Natsumi reluctantly joined them, not really sure what the heck just happened.

After a while of silence that only the brunette probably felt awkward about, she asked, "What did you like about Tatsu-nii anyway?" She was curious because Ara seemed like a very cool person who would have had many admirers.

"I like his cooking," the female blackette answered bluntly.

It was Natsumi's turn to blink. Granted her brother _does_ cook the most delicious of food, was that the main point of her liking him? (Natsumi remembered how fondly Ara looked back at the ways Tatsuya tried to woo her so she knows it can't be just that.)

"_And oh, his toned *ss_," the older female added in English, like an afterthought.

That made the siblings blush, Tatsuya sputtering in the same language about how Ara shouldn't say inappropriate things in front of his sister.

The female blackette just seemed unfazed.

The brunette decided to change the topic immediately, "Where are you from, Ara?"

"I'm from Canada," the older female answered, "though I'm half-Korean, half-Canadian."

Natsumi's mouth formed an 'o'. So that's why she couldn't recognize her accent.

"I hear you like Coeur de Pirate," Ara continued.

The female Emiya blushed at that, "I just know three of her songs and liked it." Which is true because she only knows Comme des Enfants, Crier tout bas and La petite Mort. She liked La petite Mort the most out of the three.

Ara snorted at that, "Probably the same three songs your brother liked."

Natsumi blushed redder. Due to her brother travelling around, he often hears the songs of local popular singers that if he liked enough would eventually find a place in his playlist. And since she'd sometimes go through his playlist, some of them would eventually find their way into hers.

It's how Nyusha's Higher and Natalia Lafourcade's Tú sí sabes quererme would sometimes play while she does her homework or writes another chapter in her novel. She might not actually understand what they were saying, including Coeur de Pirate's songs, but she does appreciate the melody and the singers' voices.

Besides, going from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' You Better Pray to Tú sí sabes quererme to Blackpink's Ddu-du Ddu-du to 5 Second of Summer's Wrapped Around Your Fingers just made her playlist quite more fun to listen to.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Beware of false advertisements*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi thought the three of them wouldn't be able to eat all of the food they ordered until then. Ara seemed to have a bottomless stomach then and there. The female blackette probably ate about 80% of what they ordered.

"Wow the food here's delicious. I'm usually not into seafood but I'd probably eat it every day if it's this d*mn good," Ara said after she ate the last sushi, an anago (saltwater eel) nigiri.

"I've been meaning to say this but please don't cuss in front of my imouto," Tatsuya told her.

It made the female blackette smirk at Natsumi but the brunette pretended not to understand what she was implying.

(Natsumi might have muttered a few choice words earlier that Ara managed to overheard. She doesn't feel guilty about it because the box falling on her toes _hurt_.)

"Anyway, who are those guys eavesdropping anyway?" the older female asked while pointing at the stall behind Natsumi.

The brunette has a feeling she was better off not knowing who said eavesdroppers are. She turned anyway.

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**I hope you don't mind me cutting it off here? Haha…you do?**

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**Thank you ****Lesmeal****, **_**Animeisheaven**_**, ****Bluegirl-334****, **_**MossyDuck**_**, ****Mitsu21****, **_**Amani. Sheih**_**, ****CassieInTheDark****, **_**konan248**_** for the reviews, follows and favorites!**

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**By the way, what did you think of Ara?**

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**Animeisheaven: Byakuran kind of just suddenly wanted a scene. I was actually supposed to have another character comfort her but he just went like 'comfort her? nah let's piss her off and get her in trouble instead!'**

**konan248: I don't think Natsumi is looking forward to the next school year as much as you do and for a very good reason (muwahahahahahaha). Her second year would start either late next chapter or the next, next chapter instead because I wanted Natsumi to bond with Tatsuya and Ara more. As for Keanu Reeves, well…he had been my crush since I watched Constantine, and even more after John Wick. I just thought, hehe why not Natsumi too?**

**Mitsu21: That had actually happened to me, though I didn't full on scream, more of just a startled shriek. The guy just laughed off my apologies. (I know wearing light colors would make you more visible at night but white shirt and light-colored pants?) Also I just really love Byakuran's pure white costume. I hope you liked this chapter as well.**

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**By the way, I would really like some song suggestions sung by your local artists. So if you have the time to either pm me or just tag it in a review, I would love to check out your suggestions.**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6:**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE READS, REVIEWS, FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES!**

**Also apparently, in the Japanese Curriculum, first year high school students do not have History but rather Contemporary Society.**

**Err…so uhmm ignore the mention of it in the previous chapters…?**

**I guess I'll just add that to the (long) list of things I have to correct.**

**Also I would like to warn you in advance that some (most…all…?) characters might be OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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"We're not eavesdropping woman!" a masculine voice shouted.

"Don't be so rude to them," a cheery voice lightly reprimanded.

Natsumi blinked, unsure about reality for a second.

Vongola Giotto-sensei gave a hesitant (guilty) smile, scratching the back of his head. Hibari Alaude-sensei just gave Natsumi and her companions a flat stare.

And then there's the other two (the ones who spoke) with them.

Natsumi had not met them personally but she had heard of them.

One, frankly, just seemed to be an older version of Yamamoto Takeshi. The high school student could safely surmise that he is Asari Ugetsu-sensei, the Literature teacher for the upperclassmen. He was the owner of the cheery voice that is eerily similar to the baseball player's.

The one that jarred Natsumi the most is an older, _pink-haired _Gokudera Hayato. She had heard of that description before, yes, but actually _seeing_ it when she had been classmates with grumpy Gokudera-san for a year made her stare a bit. Then she remembered that both half-brothers were supposed to have the same personality. She immediately averted her eyes even though she wanted to inspect Rossi* Luigi-sensei's facial tattoo a bit more. She'd rather not get yelled at. Or prematurely find out if Rossi-sensei have the same tendency to throw dynamites or something.

(Gokudera-san had apparently legally changed his last name to that of his biological mother's as soon as he could…which is about two years ago, right after he earned his emancipation.)

Natsumi turned back to her brother and his girlfriend. And with a (fake) cheerful tone she said, "These are my senseis in school. Hibari Alaude-sensei, he's our neighbor Tatsu-nii, is the teacher for Contemporary Society for freshmen, and Japanese and World History to sophomores and seniors. Vongola Giotto-sensei would sub for our Math teacher whenever Tanaka-sensei isn't feeling too well. He usually teaches Algebra and Geometry to sophomores. Asari Ugetsu-sensei teaches Classical and Modern Literature to sophomores and seniors. Rossi Luigi-sensei is the Chemistry and Physics teacher for sophomores and seniors."**

She knows they have three other friends although only two are teachers, Sasagawa Knuckle-sensei and Spade Daemon-sensei. The other one, if the rumor mill is accurate for once, is still in college though she doesn't know his name.

(Now that she listed them down, it felt like they were teaching too many subjects. But then again there are only 2 classes of about 20 students each per year in Vongola High, being a prestigious and exclusive private high school and all. Its high standards and good reputation were the main reasons why Natsumi was willing to navigate through her volatile classmates and schoolmates until graduation…and because she's a scholarship student)

"Good evening," Vongola-sensei greeted amicably.

It prompted an exchange of greetings and introductions, even a stilted one from Rossi-sensei and a monotonous one from Hibari-sensei.

"We didn't mean to eavesdrop, really. We were waiting for the rest of our friends and your stall was just right next to ours so we uh…" Vongola-sensei trailed off.

"Eavesdropped?" Ara 'helpfully' supplied.

Natsumi kicked her lightly under the table, "It's okay Sensei, we weren't really lowering our voices either. We don't really care much that you overheard."

The stalls could only comfortably fit four adults. The high school student was facing away from the stalls occupied by her teachers while her two companions sat beside each other on the opposite side, her brother near the wall. Rossi-sensei and Vongola-sensei sat back-to-back with her, the Math teacher sitting near the wall. Meanwhile Asari-sensei sat opposite Vongola-sensei, Hibari-sensei beside him.

"Are you sure about that?" the male Emiya asked, a bit amused.

It made the younger sister blush when she remembered just what they were talking about earlier before she stopped and stared in amazement at how much Ara could consume.

Natsumi had confessed that sometimes she would still come across a few kanji she had no idea existed before then, much less know what it actually means. Even after almost half a decade in Japan she still couldn't grasp more than the more common kanji. And don't get her started on the literature and the proverbs or just plain references that would suddenly just pop out mid-conversation. She could only guess at what they mean through context clues. Most of the time she just smiles and nods along even though she didn't really get what they meant _at all_.

Realizing that her teachers just heard her confess all of that makes her want to melt into the ground. Or maybe become a hermit for the rest of her life so she didn't have to return to school anymore.

She involuntarily groaned but voluntarily ran a hand through her face. What made her think that was a safe topic to discuss _in public_?

"Well, you could ask me for help if you want Emiya-san. I'll be your teacher the coming school year," Asari-sensei volunteered.

Natsumi had to twist her torso to even look at the Literature teacher but she wanted to give him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sensei. I'll be sure to take you up on that offer when my self-teaching skill reaches its limits."

The dark-haired sensei beamed a smile at that but judging by the faces of the rest of the senseis, the brunette student might have said a bit too much. Maybe she should have only said 'thank you, sensei' and stopped at that.

Before anyone could continue the conversation, Ara interjected, "We would have to leave now. We still need to go to that patisserie Natsumi had been waxing poetics about."

"Am not! And are you sure you could eat more?" the female Emiya immediately changed the topic although she _was_ curious about the answer. If the high school student ate even half of what the young woman ate, Natsumi would surely be too bloated to even want to move anywhere.

"Of course I could eat more," the female blackette countered, "there's always room in my stomach for desserts."

Natsumi was quite skeptical of that but Tatsuya gave her a reassuring smile that bordered on smirk.

With the bill paid and with some pleasantries exchanged with her senseis, the three left TakeSushi.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*TakeSushi, the best sushi – free advertisement*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi introduced I-pin to Tatsuya and Ara.

"You finally introduced a friend!" the male Emiya yelled in an overly enthusiastic voice, "I'm beginning to worry you don't have one!"

That sent the brunette student sputtering barely coherent strings of words and the brunette apprentice giggling behind the notebook she writes orders on.

Why was Natsumi looking forward to him coming home again?

Oh right, he cooks great food.

(And gives warm hugs…she missed his hugs the most. Not that she'll ever tell her brother that.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*'Brothers are bothers' – this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

With the spring cleaning done, Natsumi, Tatsuya and Ara decided to take advantage of the beautiful cherry blossoms and have a picnic.

Snacks were made and Ara was officially banned from the kitchen.

It's not that the woman created impossible disasters like setting celeries on fire but she just had a habit of eating while preparing the food. It would not have been a problem if it was just a little bit of everything but she actually eats 50% of what she makes.

The siblings had to stop her before they run out of food to bring for the flower viewing.

The picnic itself was a relaxed affair. Having had all of yesterday to catch up with one another while cleaning, there was little left to discuss except for random small talks.

Eventually they settled into lying down and enjoying the beautiful sight of swaying pink petals and the perpetual showers of it.

Natsumi had been so relaxed she eventually drifted to sleep, lulled by the still cool breeze.

(She would have been more wary of falling asleep if she had kept in mind that Tatsuya was carrying his camera but she dismissed the sight as 'he's always carrying his camera'. She'll regret that thought when he decides to use his stash of blackmail pictures.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line likes annoying its siblings*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

While Natsumi was happy she, Tatsuya and Ara could finally walk around and explore Namimori, she didn't remember what they may possibly encounter until a loud explosion was heard.

Thankfully, it was on the other side of the shopping district from were they at.

Unfortunately, both her brother and his girlfriend wanted to know what happened, in other words, go where the explosion happened.

"Do you really want to go there?" Natsumi asked hesitantly.

"Don't you? Aren't you even just a tiny curious about it? Or at least concerned if someone got hurt?" Tatsuya countered.

"What if another explosion happened and we're near there?" the female Emiya pointed out.

"I'm sure whoever authority got there first had made sure whatever it is doesn't explode more. Or at least turn onlookers away if it isn't," Ara reasoned.

As if on cue, gunshots were heard.

"Okay…maybe it's not safe," the male Emiya acquiesced, a bit wary about the gunshot and steadily pulling his younger sister, this time _away_ from the commotion.

Natsumi immediately nodded in agreement and latched on to Ara's hand before pulling her with them. Then the younger female noticed that the woman was looking around distractedly. "Ara?" she called out. Was there something wrong?

"Why is no one even remotely panicking?" Ara suddenly asked.

"W-What?" Natsumi asked back in shock and a tiny bit afraid of this line of questioning.

The female blackette frowned at the mother and child that continued on their shopping trip as if they weren't hearing the continuous sounds of violence from a distance. "Even if the gunshots and explosions were a bit of distance from us, normally, people would have been screaming and running away, at least calling the police or something. But everyone is acting like it's a normal part of their everyday life. What the hell?" the half-Canadian questioned.

_Because it is becoming a part of our everyday lives_, Natsumi answered in her head but didn't dare say it out loud. Maybe the residents of Namimori are collectively out of their minds if they got so used to this amount of violence they think it normal.

Even Tatsuya paused at his girlfriend's observation and also began to eye the shopper and shopkeeper haggling on some goods' prices like they weren't hearing the loud noises of hostility and possible carnage. "Now that you've pointed it out…" he trailed off.

"L-Let's just go!" the high school student yelled as she tagged them both, "let's just get out of here! We'll just ask around later what happened! Let's just leave for now!"

The couple gave her a suspicious look but let themselves get dragged away.

The younger female fought a sigh of relief from escaping her lips. No need to get them more suspicious.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line let itself get dragged here*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was after they visited Namimori Shrine when something happened again.

"Isn't that your teacher?" Ara asked, pointing somewhere behind the crop of trees they had to pass through to get back home.

Natsumi looked at where he was pointing at and saw Asari-sensei and Yamamoto-san practicing their swordsmanship…with live blades.

"What the heck?! Are those real swords?!" Tatsuya yelled in disbelief.

Ara then hit him over the head and hissed at him, "Don't yell! If they get distracted, it'll be more dangerous for them."

"B-But‒! _Live blades_," the male Emiya pointed out, thankfully with a lower volume.

"Let's just get out of here before we distract them," the female blackette tugged her boyfriend away from the scene as Natsumi obediently followed them.

"But we should get them stop before they hurt each other," the only male in their group countered.

The younger girl pitied her older brother. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

Maybe they should leave Namimori for a while?

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line has nowhere else to go, can it stay here please?*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Kokuyo Land was their destination the next day.

The three immediately got in line for the roller coaster.

While in waiting, the three discussed who'll sit together, after all, only two people could sit side-by-side and there are three of them.

"It's okay, you two sit together first," Natsumi told the couple.

Ara already has her mouth open, probably to argue, but Tatsuya spoke before she could say anything, "You said 'first'?"

"Then after that Ara and I would sit together then you and I the third time," Natsumi suggested with a smirk. Her suggestion would give her the chance to ride the roller coaster _three times_.

"You sure you want to do this _three times_? You know the thrill lessens the more you repeat it, right?" Ara asked.

The younger female shrugged at that. She doubted her thrill would lessen with just three rides, consecutive they may be. The Kokuyo Land Roller Coaster is _massive_.

The couple looked at each other briefly.

"I don't see anything wrong with doing it three times," Tatsuya shared his opinion.

"You know motion sickness is a thing right? I'm just glad I won't be next to you on the second and third ride," Ara replied to that.

Natsumi blinked, she didn't think of that.

There's no time to think about it more though because it was their turn to get on.

Now, different people deal with the thrill differently. Some scream in genuine enjoyment. Some scream in fright. Some scream profanities while some for their mommies.

Natsumi though, the thrill makes her laugh. Her laughs could range from full belly laughs to giggles and _she can't stop it_.

Her seatmate was already yelling prayers and confessions. Poor guy. If she remembered correctly he is her fellow thirdwheel.

Natsumi was laughing in between whoops of excitement when the guy finally burst into tears.

Then she giggled.

The timing is _totally_ unintentional in her part.

When the ride was finally over, the guy had to be escorted to the nearest trashcan by the couple behind them.

Tatsuya had the decency to make some distance from them first before he snickered.

Ara promptly elbowed him in the gut.

"The bumper carts next!" Natsumi enthusiastically suggested, the excitement from the roller coaster ride still running through her system making her high strung and a bit giddy.

She had run ahead and was already on the line before she turned back to the couple and found them lazily walking. The high school student frowned at them. Why are they walking so slowly?

Her brother was quite taller than average being 6ft2. He inherited his height from their father, including his coloring of grayish black hair and dull black eyes.

In fact, Tatsuya was intimidating at first sight. At least until he opens his mouth.

Natsumi would admit to anyone that her older brother fits the description 'adorkable' very well.

A proof of that was when he promptly challenged her and Ara in a 'circuit race'.

The female Emiya rolled her eyes at that. They're in BUMPER carts! They're supposed to bump on each other not race!

A look was exchanged between the two females. Without a word they already had agreed on what to do.

They ganged up on the only male in their group.

Tatsuya complained about how unfair it was on their way back to the roller coaster. He was still whining when they finally got in line.

Thankfully, Ara had pulled him in a conversation about quality tents by the time they were about to board the roller coaster.

And then Tatsuya remembered he would be the one going solo on this round when the two females sat together.

He started whining again.

At least he stopped whining when the ride started.

If Natsumi was all giggles and Tatsuya was whoops of excitement and fun, Ara was completely silent.

The girl chanced a look at the woman and Ara didn't seem petrified at all. In fact, she was just smirking and grinning.

Natsumi's respect for her skyrocketed with that display of bad*ssery.

The next attraction they went to was some sort of boat ride in running water, just with mini waterfalls and a lot of slopes and turns, the speed varying from time to time. It was not as thrilling as the roller coaster but the splashes of water made it just as fun.

The three was already in line for 2 minutes for their third and last ride on the roller coaster when Natsumi recognized just which group was less than a dozen people in front of where they are in the line. She immediately tried to come with an excuse to evacu‒err…leave the roller coaster for later.

(No wonder so few decided to get in line for the biggest attraction of the park this time. The last two times they actually managed to take a turn getting a bathroom break each while waiting.)

The female Emiya was just about to suggest to Ara if they could maybe get some snacks and ice cream first when a stern voice silenced the usually noisy crowd of amusement park goers.

"Emiya," it was her last name and she was already used to being referred by it but when said by the Demon Prefect of Vongola High School, it makes her blood run cold.

Sawada Setsuna's Fan Club seemed to have finally noticed their presence at the back of the line.

Add insult to injury, the ten people in between them and the group ahead (the fan club members plus Sawada Setsuna and another girl she doesn't recognize) suddenly decided they would like to try other rides instead.

"Hibari-sempai…?" Natsumi asked uncertainly, though proud of herself for not stuttering.

Said sempai just glared and gestured for the twinned seats.

Natsumi opened her mouth, to ask for more clues about what the heck he meant, when she realized just what he was telling her.

The rest of the group had paired off. Sawada-san and the unknown girl, Sinclair-sempai and Cozart-san (her poor classmate), Gokudera-san and Yamamoto-san (bad idea), and then Vongola-san and Cavallone-sempai (even worse idea with their one-sided hate/friendship, depends on who you asked). Only Rokudo-san is left unpaired with Hibari-sempai.

"Kufufufufu, who would she sit with? Me or you?" Rokudo-san asked the prefect.

Hibari-sempai paused, seemingly thinking about it before saying, "Me. You'll stay in front of me pineapple herbivore."

Natsumi was petrified. A whole roller coaster ride with the _Demon Prefect_.

"Too bad for either of you," her brother suddenly interjected with a smirk, "there's _two_ Emiyas here and you didn't specify which one."

There was silence. Someone actually had the guts to _talk back_ to Hibari-sempai.

_Her brother_, Natsumi's mind couldn't seem to grasp the situation that well yet, _her sometimes stupid, mostly adorkable brother just opposed the Demon Prefect_.

"There's a free seat left and it couldn't just be left empty. It would be a waste, you know?" Ara added, "Maybe I'll go too."

And that's how Natsumi didn't get to ride the best attraction of Kokuyo Land for the third time.

She didn't know what happened up there (all she could here was screams…and gun shots…and laughters…and explosions), but when they finally got off it was a different atmosphere than she anticipated.

Natsumi was expecting the couple to be cowed or intimidated by the antics of Sawada-san's fan club members.

What she got instead was Sawada-san and her companion sending awed looks towards the couple, Hibari-sempai with a tight facial expression and Rokudo-san looking slightly disturbed. Sinclair-sempai tried to pretend he wasn't affected by whatever happened but he wasn't turning his back on either Tatsuya or Ara. Cavallone-sempai has a small frown on his face, Gokudera-san was openly scowling at the couple while Yamamoto-san seemed impressed by something.

As for the couple themselves, they were wearing matching smirks.

Natsumi wondered if she'll ever find out what happened up there. Or if her sanity would remain intact if she ever found out.

(Natsumi seemed to be clueless about the power gained by overprotective older siblings when made aware of existing/looming threats towards their precious baby brothers/sisters. Ironic when she's writing a novel about one.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Adrenaline gives everyone superstrength…well adrenaline and threats to their precious people apparently*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The days Tatsuya and Ara would spend in Japan seemed like it would be quite long at the start of said vacation.

It seemed so short now that it was about to end.

The couple's flight would leave tomorrow and the two are already packing up, checking and rechecking if they had crammed everything into their suitcases and travelling bags.

Natsumi's heart felt like it was being sat on by a particularly large hippopotamus from the Nile River. It felt constrained, at the same time it felt like bursting.

She consoled herself that at least she didn't have to go to school until the day after tomorrow so she could at least accompany them to the airport. But…

"Can't you leave _after_ the start of classes instead? Maybe extend your vacation for a week more?" Natsumi whined. Yes, _whined_. She's not afraid to admit that she was whining at this point. Tatsuya was sitting on his bed with a few of his things still spread out on the mattress when she found him.

He paused from checking his travelling bag's pockets to smile consolingly at her, "There wouldn't be much reason to linger here if you'll be at school most of the day anyway. We chose to leave tomorrow so you could at least come with us to the airport."

She _knew_ that. Logically his words make sense but she didn't want logic.

She wants them to _stay_ here.

Natsumi's eyes were becoming wetter and wetter and blinking it rapidly away isn't keeping up anymore.

Then she sniffed.

Her stupid brother just had to hug her and make it all worse so now she's sobbing at his chest.

"I don't want you to go yet!" she managed to say in between sobs.

"I know, I'm sorry," Tatsuya murmured to her calmly, a total contrast to her loud and mildly hysterical voice.

"Can't you stay longer?" she whined.

"I'm sorry, Natsu…"

She let out a pathetically loud sob, "Can't you _really_ stay longer?"

Her brother just continued rubbing circles on her back and murmuring apologies to her.

She kept crying, not even able to muster enough control to stop herself for a while, even just to tell him she didn't want his apologies, she wants him to _stay_.

She feels so pathetic right then and there, looking like she's crying to try and get what she wants. She just _really_ can't stop crying.

(She exhausted herself crying and fell asleep.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Irrational lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

That night, Natsumi threw all shame out the window and asked her older brother if she could sleep beside him that night. Tatsuya let her.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Free warm hugs to cheer you up!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi gave both Tatsuya and Ara as much hugs as she could give them until they had to board the planes.

The couple promised to visit as much as they could, maybe together, probably separately because of their conflicting schedules.

That promise was enough for Natsumi though.

For now.

The female Emiya didn't cry as she waved at them until they could no longer see each other. She didn't cry when she waved at the departing plane. She didn't cry when the plane was nothing but a small figure in the sky.

She had probably ran out of tears last night.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Another bonus line, yay!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

**OMAKE:**

Emiya Tatsuya must have some rotten luck.

The first time his sister and his girlfriend were with him at the same time, they just had to have their period _at the same time_.

He didn't know what he said but Natsumi suddenly became very angry with him and started hitting him with one of the throw pillows.

He didn't even say anything back and took the 'beating' like a champ but that somehow made it worst. Natsumi went from angry to sobbing on the floor.

He tried to console her but Ara just had to pick that moment to come down from her room. His girlfriend immediately pegged him as the one to blame and sent him away while she sat down beside his younger sister and started whispering at her.

He came back to the living room not two minutes later when he heard two people sobbing instead of just one when he left. And as he expected, the two most precious girls in his life are now sobbing on the floor while hugging each other.

He tried to console both of them but just got slapped _on both cheeks_.

And now here he is, in Natsumi's favorite patisserie trying to find the perfect treat to get him back to their good graces.

How did this become his life?

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***I literally spent about a day trying to decide whether to use Rossi or Russo because apparently they both mean red.**

****Is their teaching load alright? Or are they teaching too many classes?**

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**Special thanks to ****KingdomOfWinter****, **_**roodblow01chrishi**_**, ****zier1****, **_**Mikazuki Kira**_**, ****tobimadaraisawesome666****, **_**KaliRenee**_**, ****Fire's Son3****, **_**Quaarus**_**, ****Draconaise Chiaro****, **_**latinagirl-reader2010**_**, ****AdictaMoon****, **_**Animeisheaven**_**, ****CassieInTheDark****, **_**Bluegirl-334**_**, ****konan248**** for reviews, follows and favorites!**

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**Also I hope the first scene wasn't a disappointment. I tried to extend it but I feel like Natsumi would have fled as soon as she could make an excuse to do so and Ara would have lent her aid when she saw how uncomfortable Natsumi was. As for Tatsuya, well…he was probably enjoying Natsumi's discomfort, deep inside his consciousness where he laughed evilly while counting the blackmail pictures he'd collected over the years.**

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**Guest: Thank you and I'm happy you enjoyed this story so much!**

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**Animeisheaven: I'm glad you liked Ara, though she might have left for now but she'll definitely be coming back and be that older female influence Natsumi currently lacks**

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**CassieInTheDark: I have the same problem with the other half of the hearts disappearing too! I wonder why the site does this to us. We just want some hearts! 3 3 3**

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**Bluegirl-334: I hope the identity of the spies got your approval 3 I've been wanting to introduce some of the Vongola 1****st**** Gen and this seemed to be the perfect time to introduce to Natsumi another redhead she could ogle, hehe**

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**konan248: We didn't get to see how Tatsuya would have acted normally if he had witnessed the craziness by himself but they just had to trigger his 'Big Brother' mode, didn't they?**

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**It's going to be Natsumi's second year at Vongola High on the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7:**

**ANOTHER CHAPTER! YAY!**

**I noticed how short this chapter is and thought I should update this along with Chapter 6 instead. Hopefully, that would make the length more forgivable…right? No…? Oh.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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On the first day of school, Natsumi went to Vongola High early. She volunteered to chaperone and tour the incoming students.

She met them outside the school theater, where the welcome ceremony was conducted.

Forty-five people passed the entrance exam but according to the instructions given to her, only 42 students enrolled.

Natsumi counted and recounted the first year students. Why are there 43?

"What are you doing there you stupid cow?!" an angry voice yelled and the first year students jumped a little in fright. But Natsumi didn't even bat an eye, she's used to Gokudera-san yelling by now.

"Yare yare, found already? I'm here 'cause I want to be," one of the first years that gathered in front of Natsumi replied in a lazy tone, one eye closed and while the other one looked at Gokudera-san boredly.

"You're not high school yet! Go back to your school!" Gokudera-san immediately argued back.

Natsumi blinked at that, no wonder she counted one more than she should.

"Why can't I skip a year? I'm a senior in middle school already, one year won't make such a difference," the boy with green eyes reasoned. His hair is dark and wavy. He has marks under his eyes and the reason Natsumi didn't peg him as the extra student was because of his height. He's taller than her.

(Which is just unfair, he's _two years_ younger than her!)

"You didn't even pass the entrance exam yet! Just get out of here you stupid cow!" Gokudera-san pointed out.

"Yare yare, you're as loud as ever," the boy commented before putting a pinky in his ear, and rubbing it presumably trying to clean inside his ear.

That seemed to be the last straw for the silver-haired sophomore as he walked towards the dark-haired middle school student, then hit him at the back of the head.

There was no reaction first, and then the boy started tearing up.

Gokudera-san clicked his tongue, "You annoying‒"

"Gokudersa-san," Natsumi interjected as she moved in between the two. She would have stayed out of their argument, since they seemed to know each other already, but when the boy started tearing up she just couldn't standby. She gave her fellow sophomore a false smile and said, "Why don't _you_ go back to your classroom already? I'll be sure to escort him out of the campus after this."

Gokudera-san seemed to want to argue back but closed his mouth again and with a muttered 'whatever' left them, presumably to go back to his assigned room.

Natsumi then turned to the first year students plus one and with a cheerful voice said, "Why don't we start the tour?"

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is brought to you by Gokudera-kun's Triple Bombs*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The first floor of the building has the impressive lounge with a crystal chandelier, the (larger than necessary) Principal's Office, and the teacher's individual faculty room (which is excessive in Natsumi's humble opinion). The hallways itself has the students' lockers against the walls with the indoor shoe lockers right at the entrance of the building. The 2nd floor has the Hone Economics Room, Biology Room, Chemistry Room, Physics Room, Geology Room and the likes. Third floor has the Publishing Office, Clinic and the senior classrooms. Fourth floor has the freshmen and sophomore classrooms. The (pleasantly spacious) library covered two floors, 3rd and 4th, and was on the left wing. Even so, they had two empty classrooms in the fourth floor and one on the third.

They didn't lack funds, Natsumi admits that but she wondered why the high school still operated with its few students. It was not as well-populated as the Vongola University, which is housed in the group of buildings across the baseball court and soccer field from the high school building. They didn't lack facilities either since she knew they have separate courts for basketball and volleyball. They even have Olympic size swimming pools and track and field. They also have dojos for different martial arts clubs available, and even a separate one for practitioners of kendo. Though they did have to share with the University students.

It's probably the tuition fee that had most backing out. At least Natsumi had a full scholarship that exempts her even from other fees.

She knew they barely had enough students in the baseball club to compete with other schools and that was the most popular sport in Japan. She had not seen any high school student play in the tennis court outside of physical education since her first year here. She didn't think there had been a full game of soccer before either even if the players are from across the years.

The poor firsties are as bewildered by the vastness (and emptiness) of the school as she was when she first got a tour. She gave them the basic floor plan of the building and where the commonly used facilities are but didn't share any of the negative insights she had had.

After the tour, she escorted them to their assigned classrooms on the fourth floor then walked with the middle school student down to the first floor and eventually out of the building.

"Err…Nee-san?" the boy called out.

Natsumi turned to him and smiled, silently urging him to continue.

"Thank you for earlier. Didn't think you'd stand up for me. Very few does," the boy confessed.

"You're welcome, err…?" the brunette just remembered she doesn't know the name of the boy yet. She mentally kicked herself because she had already promised herself she had to know the name of the person first before extensively interacting with them. The experience with Gesso Byakuran should have taught her enough. But then again the boy is younger than her even if he's taller. She's still his sempai so she should help him…right?

"Bovino Lambo," the boy, Bovino-san, extended his hand towards her.

She clasped it with her own and shook his larger hand, "Emiya Natsumi, second year here at Vongola High."

They immediately let go of each other and Natsumi tried not to wince at the boy's firm grip.

They eventually reached the gates.

"Thank you again, Natsu-nee-san," Bovino-san said with a lazy backward wave as he walked away.

Natsumi waved back. She would have scolded him for being too familiar with her but her friends and acquaintances from America call her the same thing. ('Natsumi' is apparently too long) She didn't mind him calling her that too.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Befriending lazy cows may not be that bad*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi arrived at her classroom to the female portion of her class swooning over something.

"Can you believe it? Vongola-sensei is our Homeroom teacher _and_ Math teacher!" Yoshida Shizuku-san, her classmate since sophomore in middle school, happily informed her.

Yes, actually Natsumi _can_ believe it. Vongola-sensei probably wasn't allowed to be his own brother's Homeroom teacher and Vongola Xanxus was in the other class, the Science major route. (Thankfully because Belphegor-san followed him there.)

Their class was the one following the Literature route. Natsumi thought Gokudera-san would have been at the other class but it seems like he stayed here because Sawada-san was here. Sasagawa-san, Yamamoto-san and Rokudo-san are still their classmates too. Cozart-san and Kurokawa-san seemed to have taken the Science route though.

"That's awesome. It would at least make Math enjoyable, wouldn't it?" she replied instead of voicing her thoughts.

"I know right? I don't know if I'll be able to pay attention at all like this," Yoshida-san sighed dreamily.

"I think he'll be more impress with us if we do well and more," Natsumi lightly countered.

"You're right! I'll get 100% in everything even if it kills me!" Yoshida-san's yell prompted the other girls to want to do the same. Eventually they decided to have a sort of study sessions together.

Natsumi backed away discretely after that. She's happy she was able to motivate them but she didn't think she'd happily focus on one subject like what they were planning to do. She has grades to maintain after all.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Focus, focus on me!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi fidgeted slightly. She couldn't help it, she's nervous.

The first thing Vongola Giotto-sensei said after arriving in class was that Natsumi was being called down to the Principal's Office. No explanations why because he didn't have a clue what the Principal wanted either.

The brunette tried to think of what she might have done to warrant getting called down during the first day of class.

(She was sure she didn't say out loud the not so flattering observations she had about the school.)

Vongola Timoteo-sensei smiled at her kindly, probably noticing her discomfort.

She tried to smile back but she knew it looked strained if not strange.

"How were the first year students, Emiya-san?" Vongola Timoteo-sensei (Vongola-sensei? Timoteo-sensei? Screw it she'll call him Vongola-sensei as well) asked.

"I showed them around the building, like where their lockers are, the Rooms in the second floor, the Clinic and the Library. I showed them the other school facilities as well, like the track and field and swimming pool and others. They didn't have many questions and I told them they could approach me any time before escorting them to their classrooms."

Natsumi noticed herself babbling at that point and closed her mouth, even if she _really_ wanted to say something about how the freshmen looked so awed about the top notch facilities the school has.

"I see. Good job Emiya-san," Vongola-sensei praised and Natsumi felt her mood lifting up. "Actually, I would like to discuss something else," he added and Natsumi's mood started sinking again, her nervousness coming back with a vengeance.

"It's nothing bad, I assure you," the Principal said with a bit of amusement in his voice and the brunette blushed a little at that. "We just noticed that you didn't join any club in your first year here," he said.

Natsumi gulped uneasily. It's not exactly required to join any club, it's just 'highly encouraged'. Something about it looking good on your resume.

"You're one of our scholarship students and I know you are focusing on your studies to maintain a good standing, but I hope you would at least find something you would enjoy while here in Vongola High. Trying for one of the clubs would be a good start if you have nothing in mind yet," he told her.

The sophomore nodded at that, "I'll visit a few of them and see if I'll find something I like. Thank you for your advice, Sensei."

"You're welcome. Now I'm sure you want to return to class immediately, at least to get your schedule from Homeroom," the Principal said.

It's a good dismissal as any and the brunette nodded, "Thank you for your time, Sensei."

She excused herself and he resumed checking over some paperwork at his desk. She was already standing up when he suddenly spoke.

"Ah, Emiya-san?" the Principal called out, "If you don't mind me asking, how did no one notice you didn't join any club?"

Natsumi bit her lower lip and blushed at that. Actually, it was quite simple but she had only come up with how she would appear like she had club activities after two weeks of thinking about it.

"I stay in the Library, Sensei. I time going home around when most clubs dismiss their members," she confessed.

The Principal's lip twitched up in an involuntary smile. It looked more genuine than the ones he gave her earlier. "I see…that was a rather simple answer, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically.

The sophomore nodded, still blushing a bit even though she was sure she wasn't the only one that had thought of that.

"Thank you for indulging my question, Emiya-san," he said.

"Err…you're welcome, Sensei," she replied unsurely. It made the Principal smile wider, which made Natsumi want to leave even more.

She gave him a deep but stiff bow and fled the Principal's Office as fast as she could without seeming rude.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Dishonor! Dishonor on your family, dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow! – line dressed-up as Mushu*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi knew that if she wanted to improve her writing more, she'll have to take Creative Writing in college. So with great reluctance she chose the Literature route.

As expected, Asari-sensei is their teacher in Classic Literature. Japanese and World History is still Hibari-sensei, Biology is Rossi-sensei and English seems to have been taken over by Spade Daemon-sensei. She heard Spade Elena-sensei has Music but Natsumi took Calligraphy.

At least Calligraphy she could learn. She's hopeless at Music.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I don't sing, I declaim*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It seems like word got out about what happened at the start of the tour Natsumi conducted.

Except apparently she managed to 'bully' Gokudera-san away when he only wanted to make a non-student leave the school premises.

_That was a rather twisted interpretation of what happened_, she thought.

Gokudera-san's fans fully believed that version though and now they are bothering her.

(She refused to call it bullying. She is _not_ getting bullied.)

One of them had 'accidentally' punched her in the gut on the hallway.

Another 'accidentally' poured her juice on her.

This time, Natsumi was 'accidentally' knocked out and locked inside a storage closet.

Yep, sure. And Julius Caesar got 'accidentally' stabbed by (many of the) the Roman Senators.

They managed to ambush her on her way down the first floor since she's about to go home.

It's 11pm already and she had given up trying to yell for someone fifteen minutes ago. Her phone had no reception so she can't call anyone either. Not to mention the back of her head hurts and she may be feeling a bit nauseous. She felt a bump there so she's assuming that's how they knocked her out.

The light on her phone was her only companion and it was down to 8%. It wouldn't last the night and Natsumi hated that fact.

Everything was so dark and she's _freezing_, teeth chattering and body shivering.

She's d*mn afraid of the dark and here she is, in a storage closet without a single light source.

And you know which storage closet this is? The Biology Room's. The mannequins and models might be made of plastic but it didn't make them any easier to look at, especially in low light.

Natsumi _did not_ want to even think about what's inside those jars. She didn't look at them any longer than the two seconds she needed to identify that yep, they're jars filled with _something_.

Curse her d*mn luck!

7%

Natsumi gave up trying not to cry.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Stop Bullying!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was exactly 11:48pm when Natsumi's phone died.

Ever since then, she had been crying and hiccupping and begging for someone to please open the door.

Sometimes she could feel the hair at the back of her neck stand and it's making her nervous at what could suddenly jump at her.

She doesn't want to open her eyes because she knows she won't see anything anyway (She's more afraid of what she might see instead of darkness).

She didn't know how long she had been alone in that dark room (she had stopped shivering a while ago and she doesn't know why, she doesn't really care why), she had stopped crying a while ago as well. And then she heard something.

"Emiya-chan!" a distant voice called out.

Natsumi's mood lifted up. Someone's looking for her! She started banging on the door.

"H-HERE! I'M HERE! P-PLEASE LET ME OUT!" she screamed as loud as she could.

It was only a few seconds later that a voice, masculine, told her to please calm down. That she's need to take a few steps back because the door swings in.

She obediently stepped three times backward, thankfully not hitting anything.

The door opened revealing Gesson Byakuran.

She was so happy she tackle-hugged him.

She didn't care how he found out she was trapped somewhere.

She didn't care how she even got inside the building at this hour.

She didn't care he isn't even studying at Vongola High.

She didn't care she's sobbing at his chest and ruining whatever he's currently wearing.

She's just so relieved she's out of that d*mn closet.

She was chanting 'thank you' over and over again between sobs.

She no longer cares if the white-haired teen ever invites himself over to her house in the future just to demand food. He rescued her so he's her new best friend now.

(She didn't notice falling asleep from exhaustion.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*You're reading this?! You're my best friend now! – this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi woke up with a groan…and a headache…and a parched throat…and stuffed nose…and crusted eyes. In other words, she didn't really enjoy waking up.

"She's awake!" a female voice yelled.

Natsumi very much wanted to yell back at her to shut up, she knows she's awake but all she could muster is another groan.

People were talking to her or maybe just each other. She didn't know, she's not really processing anything else right now other than she's aching and she's thirsty.

Someone helped her sit up and put a glass of in front of her with a straw. How thoughtful of them.

She took a few sips but that's all she could stomach right now even if her throat is begging for more.

Oh, the voices are making more sense now.

"Do you need anything else, Emiya-san?" the nurse asked, at least Natsumi assumes she's the nurse…or maybe she's the doctor and the guy wearing a lab coat is the nurse and Natsumi is just being judgmental b*tch.

There was a laugh and then the woman said, "I am the nurse Emiya-san and I don't think you're being judgmental. Sasaki-sensei _is_ the one wearing a lab coat. My name is Honda Keiko, please call me Keiko."

"Nice to meet you Keiko-san, please call me Natsumi."

Sasaki-sensei cleared his throat. He was professional in telling her what happened and what she had been diagnosed with.

Apparently Gesso-san found the bump on the back of her head and immediately rushed her to the hospital. It was a mild case of concussion on top of hypothermia.

Before Sasaki-sensei could say anything else the door burst open.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8:**

**Thank you for reading another chapter of A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**.**

**.**

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"O-ho, so she _is_ awake," a man said and the first thing that Natsumi noticed about him was his hair. It was the most beautiful shade of cyan/teal that she had ever seen and it's his _hair color_.

She wondered if it's naturally like that?

"Sir, no visitors are allowed in yet and‒" Keiko-san got cut off when the man spoke over her.

"Byakuran-sama! The little miss is awake!" the man then stepped aside and almost immediately, Gesso-san came into view.

"N-No visitors yet!" Keiko-san yelled, quite flustered that another one just casually entered when she just said no visitors are allowed in yet.

While the teal-haired man just left without a word, Gesso-san strolled towards Natsumi despite the nurse sputtering at him that he couldn't enter yet.

Sasaki-sensei just sighed, "Just let him stay, Honda. We won't be able to make him leave anyway."

The doctor then proceeded to tell the brunette sophomore student the rest of what he had to say, which is how long she still needed to stay in the hospital for observation (five days observation for her concussion and also make sure the hypothermia didn't affect any organ), while the albino sat at the only chair in the room like he's not doing anything wrong.

Frankly, Natsumi probably paid more attention to the older teen than what Sasaki-sensei was telling her.

(She was also telepathically asking Gesso-san who the teal-haired man was. Based on the smirk on the purple-eyed teen's face, he perfectly knew what she was thinking.)

The doctor then excused himself, and before leaving gave Keiko-san _and _Gesso-san a nod that both acknowledged with a nod as well, the former even smiling.

Keiko-san then turned to Natsumi with a stiffer smile and said, "This would have been the time when I would tell you to sleep and get rest but it seems like you have a visitor to entertain first." She then shot the unrepentant older teen a glare before continuing, "If you feel tired, just let yourself sleep even when mid-conversation. You need it."

Natsumi firmly nodded at that with a smile, "Thank you Keiko-san."

The nurse's smile became a bit more genuine, "You're welcome, Natsumi-san."

After the door closed behind the nurse, Gesso-san immediately spoke, "She gets to be on first-name basis with you but I can't?"

Natsumi's default response was to get annoyed before she remembered that the albino was the one who rescued her. She calmed herself and smiled (a little forcefully), "You can call me Natsumi too if you want. You _did_ get me out of that storage closet."

"And saved your life," he added smugly.

"And saved my−wait, my life was in danger?!" she looked wide-eyed at him because she didn't know that! All she knew was that she had a mild concussion and hypotherm−.

Natsumi paled in realization.

_Hypothermia_. A person's shivering may stop when it is no longer a mild case of hypothermia and _she stopped shivering_.

With the temperature steadily rising as spring turns into summer, the Biology store room must have had its temperature artificially lowered for the temperature-sensitive objects inside. (Natsumi involuntarily shuddered getting reminded of those jars filled with…_something_.)

No wonder she was _so cold_. She then wiggled her fingers and toes, just to make sure none of them was amputated or something.

"−tsumi-san? Natsumi-chan?"

"Y-Yes…?"

Gesso-san gave her a grim look, the first time Natsumi ever saw him have a facial expression other than smug smirks and amused smiles. "You realize now then how serious this is?" he asked.

She nodded at that.

_She nearly died_.

She really wants a hug right now. Preferably from her brother.

"The girls that did it are currently suspended, pending expulsion," the older teen added.

"E-Expulsion?!"

"You nearly _died_ Natsumi," he pointed out.

"They probably didn't mean it to go that far!" she reasoned.

"A particular art school probably didn't mean it to go that far when they rejected Hitler," he countered.

"_Byakuran!_"

The purple-eyed teen gave her an amused smile, "I haven't said you could use my first name yet."

Natsumi sputtered a bit before getting her bearings again. "Stop changing the topic! What do you mean expulsion?" she stirred the conversation back to that because frankly, Natsumi didn't want to be cause for anyone to get expelled.

She didn't want to have the stigma of 'she got some students expelled' for the rest of her life!

"This had almost become a murder with _you_ as the victim and you're worried about them getting expelled?" Byakuran-san, she owned up to calling him by his first name, pointed out but he didn't seem surprised by her priorities.

"Who were they anyway? How did they get caught? I didn't even see any of their faces," Natsumi changed the topic, hopefully not so obviously.

Byakuran-san looked at her in amusement again so she guessed that means she wasn't as subtle as she thought. He, thankfully, let it go and began to explain.

Apparently, they paid the (now-fired) bodyguard manning the monitors for the CCTV cameras to 'take a walk' for a while. The bullies, five senior students that the albino never specified the names of, then turned off the cameras on the second floor while they knocked her out and placed her inside the Biology storage closet. The only reason they got identified was because they didn't disable the cameras from the other floors and they were the only ones leaving said floor when the incident happened.

Natsumi was, honestly, flabbergasted that they got caught because they forgot they'd still be seen in the cameras of other floors even with the ones in the second floor turned off. It was a _stupid_ oversight.

Judging by the tone the older teen used while narrating what happened, he was thinking the same unflattering thoughts about said senior students.

The two bantered a bit more after that, Natsumi's mind slowly adjusting to the fact that she considers him her friend now and therefore calls him 'Byakuran-san' instead of 'Gesso-san.' She would sometimes still stumble and say 'Ge' or simply make a 'g' sound, which would make the albino's mouth twitch higher than its almost permanent smile. She resolved to fix that less he _actually_ starts laughing at her.

The albino explained how he went to her house so they could celebrate the first day of school, i.e. cajole more food from her, when he found out she isn't home. The fact that he went to her house at 11pm (probably intending to annoy her by waking her up) made everything very alarming. He started looking for her in her last known location, which is her school. The time in between that and finding her was spent going to Vongola Campus, trying to get into Vongola Campus, trying to get in to Vongola High School Building, trying to get into the building's Security Room and perusing the cameras for what happened.

In other words it mainly involved a lot of breaking in.

Eventually when she yawned too frequently and her eyes started drooping, he stood up to leave.

She replied to his 'pleasantries' almost automatically and when the door closed behind him, her eyes closed on their own.

Only to open up again when the door creaked open.

Byakuran-san only peeked his head in and said, "And oh, the man you were ogling? His name is Kikyo." Then he left.

Natsumi blinked slowly before she processed his words.

"_I wasn't ogling!_"

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Kikyo's hair is actually cyan but wiki said teal so…*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi stared at Kikyo, mortified.

Apparently, Byakuran-san told the man to guard her or something.

The teal-haired man looked torn between amused and irritated but eventually settled into amused and the brunette had no idea how to make sure it stays that way.

She then blurted out the stupidest idea in her head unintentionally, "Can I play with your hair?"

Kikyo-san stared at her for a while and Natsumi swore she was sweating buckets when the man eventually relents.

Which is how she ended up running her hands through the man's short locks while he sat on the floor beside her hospital bed.

It was _smooth_ and was teal all the way to the roots. Natsumi was amazed. It's his _natural_ hair color.

As she began to massage his head for good measure, small talks between them started, the first topic was how she met Byakuran-san. It was embarrassing talking about how she freaked out thinking the albino was a ghost but endured narrating it.

After all, the man was letting her play with his hair.

"O-ho, that was a rather unusual way to meet," Kikyo-san commented.

"How about you? How did you and Byakuran-san meet?" she asked, desperate to change the topic.

Kikyo-san stiffened and the brunette guessed she hit a topic he didn't want to talk about. She was about to tell him he didn't have to answer her when he began to speak.

He had an abusive boss before being hired by Byakuran-san, though he didn't specify what abuse he was receiving.

"My brother had a bad boss too," Natsumi blurted out.

There was silence and she thought she had messed up any amicable air they had before when Kikyo-san eventually spoke, "O-ho?"

Natsumi then let her mouth run without thinking, "Y-Yeah…but probably not as bad as yours. Tatsu-nii's boss just give him the worst shifts and berates him even if he did nothing wrong and didn't recognize if he did something good and stuffs like that. But he couldn't quit because he needed the salary. He was the only one with an income and he's trying to keep us both alive and one job wouldn't just cover for everything. And it wouldn't look good if he quit his first job due to some 'minor difficulties' and would probably not be accepted into anything else with the stigma of being a quitter or something like that. I eventually got him to quit the job though."

Her word vomit was met with silence.

"I-It's because I got him another job!" she explained herself, "He travels for work now so he isn't home often."

In fact, from what she heard from Keiko-san, who was tasked to inform Natsumi's guardian a.k.a. her brother what happened to her, Tatsuya was already about to board a flight with his shishou to their next project when he was informed of what happened to her. He's on his way back to Japan right now. Natsumi has no news about Ara though.

She was eventually dragged from her thoughts when the door opened. She expected it to be Byakuran-san and was surprised when it was Hibari-sensei.

"Alaude," Kikyo-san greeted in falsely amicable tone. The only reason Natsumi knew he wasn't being sincere about his friendly tone was because of how tense he was.

"Get out," Hibari-sensei replied to that.

"O-ho, but I−"

"_Get out_," this time it was snarled out.

Natsumi was instinctively scared of the tone he used. She knew how dangerous Hibari-sensei could be. Heck the History teacher could restrain some of the most bloodthirsty Vongola High School's students _at the same time_. But the brunette never felt unsafe around him. In fact she felt safe around him because she knew he wouldn't let any harm come to her, even if it's only out of obligation. This is the first time she felt genuinely scared of him because this is the first time she ever drew his ire.

Kikyo-san eventually stood up and Natsumi had to retrieve her hand. The teal-haired man never once turned to her nor did he say anything to her and left without so much as acknowledging her, Hibari-sensei glaring at him the whole way.

Hibari-sensei then turned his glare at her and she stiffened under his scrutinizing gaze. He didn't say anything either before slamming the door closed.

Natsumi felt really, really disappointed at herself because for some reason she felt like she did something really wrong.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is disappointed at itself too*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Only about an hour after Kikyo-san and Hibari-sensei left, Natsumi got another visitor.

It was I-Pin.

And she brought _food_.

"I-Pin-chan, you are an angel," Natsumi told her seriously as the younger girl began unwrapping the food she brought.

Natsumi was instantly suspicious when she saw the shape of the container and immediately deflated when her suspicions were confirmed.

It was soup.

At least it had to be better than the soup from the hospital canteen, she consoled herself.

"Eat," I-Pin-chan ordered her. And when Natsumi stopped after feeling full half-way the container, the Chinese girl immediately followed-up with a stern, "All of it."

Natsumi snailed her way through eating every last drop as ordered. By that time, she felt bloated, like her stomach was already too full and could no longer contain the food so it's now all the way up to her esophagus.

"Good, eating a lot would help you get better faster," I-pin-chan said as she packed away the container and utensils.

"Who told you that lie?" Natsumi asked with a groan. She's too full. She didn't want to move until the next century.

"Shishou," the younger girl replied with no shame.

Hibari-san, huh? Figures. Speaking of Hibari…

"Ne, I-pin-chan, do you know why Hibari-sensei seemed angry?"

The Chinese girl blinked at that, "I did not know Alaude-san is angry about anything."

"Huh…"

"Kyoya-san seemed to be in a permanent bad mood though," the younger girl confessed.

The older brunette winced at that, "Oh."

Hibari-sempai probably wasn't happy about the oversight that had caused such a mess. In fact, he probably wasn't happy with her either because _she_ was the cause of the mess.

She could already imagine his face full of irritation and him saying something with 'stupid herbivore' and 'bite to death' in it.

Natsumi is _not_ looking forward to that at all.

"Can you tell me about the situation out there? No one would tell me anything," the high school student asked. In fact, the only one who ever told her anything significant was _Byakuran-san_ of all people. Everyone else would just say something about how her guardian should be here to hear it with her.

"Everything is kept hushed up. Most Vongola High students think you fell ill and was hospitalized," I-Pin-chan informed her.

Okay, not the first time if they remember the Sick Week Incident last year. "And the senior students were suspended because…?"

"They had messed with the school surveillance system by bribing a guard, who was immediately dismissed for accepting said bribery."

That was…a load of bullsh*t but at least no one would blame her for getting other students suspended/expelled.

Natsumi absentmindedly thanked the Chinese girl for the information.

Some of the perceptive students will probably suspect a connection between the suspension and her hospitalization and the ones with reliable sources of information would probably find out about the truth. In fact, that's probably how Hibari-sempai found out about what happened.

Or he just intimidated whoever was investigating into giving him information.

In any case, some would know what would happen but most would remain clueless.

Natsumi pondered how different school life would become for her as she made small talk with her friend.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Brace yourself! Wint−err…change is coming!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Third day of her stay in the hospital and Tatsuya finally arrived.

Natsumi only found out when her older brother decided the best entrance was slamming the door open.

(He got scolded by the nurse.)

She then spent half an hour crying in her brother's arms because _oh Kami-sama she nearly died_. She nearly didn't live to reach her eighteenth birthday. She nearly left her Tatsu-nii all alone.

Because Natsumi was so stupid to ignore the bullying and the bullies were stupider for doing what they did. Which made Natsumi even more stupid because she let them do it to her.

The next thing she knew, Tatsuya was trying to wake her up…by continuously poking at her cheek.

"Tatsu-nii!" she whined, she didn't notice herself falling asleep. In fact, she was still sitting on her brother's lap, wrapped around his arms, the same position from when she was still crying at his chest.

"Sorry Natsu, I would have let you sleep more, you look like you need it, but someone's here to talk to us," the male Emiya explained as he gestured his hand somewhere.

The sophomore student rubbed her eyes with her right hand and stifled a yawn with the left, lethargically twisting herself to look at who her brother was talking about.

It was Vongola Giotto-sensei. And he was looking guiltily at her.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Guilty for overspending on sweets*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Vongola-sensei was there to explain to her what happened.

It seems like the senior students didn't think she'd potentially be in danger of dying when they did what they did. They only wanted to 'teach her a lesson' and thought of the Biology store room because 'it was the creepiest'. And now Vongola-sensei is asking her not to press for expulsion, that two weeks of suspension was enough punishment.

Natsumi didn't know what to think. On one hand they didn't really mean for her to nearly die. On the other hand, _she nearly died anyway_. The thought of which could still make Natsumi tear up. If she had to decide whether to press for expulsion or not…she still didn't know what to think.

"No," Tatsuya decided and it made Natsumi and Vongola-sensei stare at him.

"No…?" Vongola-sensei parroted in confusion. The female Emiya was equally confused. What did the blackette meant by that?

"No, we refuse your suggestion _not_ to press for expulsion," her brother clarified.

"B-But they didn't mean for it to go this far!" the blond protested.

"A particular art school probably didn't mean it to go that far when they rejected Hitler," the apprentice photographer countered.

"_Tatsu-nii!_" Natsumi hissed then elbowed him in the gut, partially because of how harsh he was and mostly because _Byakuran said the same thing, what the actual f*ck?_

"They're just kids! Not even adult yet! They haven't fully realized yet what−" Vongola-sensei was cut off by a voice by the door.

"They're almost eighteen by now," it was Ara, "and what they did is _attempted murder_ and that wouldn't change however much you want to pretty it up Vongola-san."

Natsumi would have loved to see the young woman any other time but not when she is using her _nearly dying_ as an argument.

The female blackette closed the door behind her and stood beside Tatsuya, opposite the blond teacher.

"And shouldn't you be defending Natsumi? She's _your_ student and this happened on the _first day_ of school," Ara added.

Vongola-sensei looked offended at that, "I _am_ looking out for her. I know how harsh peers could be and being the center of such an incident that could cause the expulsion of five of her sempais would not be good for her. In fact, it'll make things difficult for her. You both should know how a negative reputation could affect your life by now."

"So said sempais should just get away with light punishment even after what they did? _This _is the reason why they get entitled. Because they already know they could get away with it. Eventually they will push the limits of what they could get away with, Vongola-san. Better they get corrected now than do something they'll regret later," Ara countered.

Natsumi was looking at Ara in concern. She sensed a history somewhere in there. And judging by the look on her brother's face he _knows_ just what said history is. She was curious but didn't want to press. It might bring up memories Ara would rather forget.

When Vongola-sensei seemed to be gearing up to win the argument, Natsumi interjected, "Why don't _I _get to decide what I want?"

Ara gave her an understanding smile, Tatsuya a reluctant nod and Vongola-sensei a sheepish expression.

When all attention wen to her, she tried to sink into herself but eventually mustered up the courage to speak, "I…I don't want anyone to get expelled because of me."

Vongola-sensei beamed at her (ouch, nearly blinded by sparkles! Nearly forgot about those after not experiencing them for a long time). Ara and Tatsuya frowned at her though so she hastily added, "I think they got off lightly though. They should be punished more for what they did. Like…"

The three are now even more focused now that she mentioned extra punishment.

"Uhm…uh…cleaning all storage closets…for a month…maybe…?" she suggested unsurely. When they seemed to be expecting more she added, "Get someone unbribable to watch them closely too? Like maybe Hibari-sempai…?"

Vongola-sensei looked at her in horror. Ara seemed to be considering it. Her brother though, looked incredulous.

"You want them to _clean_? That's it? That's the punishment you could think of?" he asked.

Natsumi huffed at that. Just try cleaning while _Hibari-sempai_ was glaring at your back. _That _would be the punishment. Her Tatsu-nii probably didn't know what type of hell awaits the sempais if ever Vongola-sensei approves of the punishment.

_If _Vongola-sensei approves of the punishment.

The brunette suddenly yawned.

"Are you still tired?" the male blackette asked in concern.

Natsumi's denial was immediately followed by a yawn so no one believed her.

"How about discussing this somewhere else?" Ara suggested.

"But I want to join the discussion!" the high school student protested.

"We'll tell you what we'll come up with. Then you could suggest what you would like to add or change," Vongola-sensei told her.

Natsumi frowned at that but then she yawned again. She blamed how scary hospitals are at night. She hadn't been sleeping properly unless it's her falling unconscious due to sheer exhaustion.

"Fine. I want to know everything though."

"Sure Natsu, we'll tell you everything later," Tatsuya reassured her.

As she settled on her bed and while the three adults left the room, she swore she saw the couple smirking at her teacher and the blond gulping a bit.

She wasn't so sure though. She'll just ask about it later.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line wants a longer vacation than a weekend*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

**EXTRA SCENE:**

Giotto Vongola can't believe such a mess could happen _on the first day of school_.

He could hopefully calm the whole thing down and pacify everyone involved before it gets out of hand. Making sure the full story won't come out until it's resolved was his first step. Sure, Kyoya finding out what happened via beating a security guard black and blue was a hiccup but it's a hiccup he knew would happened.

Of course whatever Kyoya found out, Alaude would eventually know and now he also has the oldest Hibari glaring at his back to fix this, which isn't really very good for Giotto's heart and continued health.

Letting the public know that five of his senior students almost successfully killed one of his sophomores is a big 'NO'. Which means Giotto doesn't really have anything strong enough to expel said students for, only barely enough for 2 weeks suspension. The sophomore then would probably not want to go to school with the very students that nearly killed her. Which means she'll probably quit and transfer. She's one of their scholarship students and her leaving would most likely raise a lot of red flags. They didn't need that now that they still barely had enough students each year to keep the school open.

He'd have to talk to her and her guardians to ask for a compromise.

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**Special thanks to **_**hamysophie2910**_**, ****Cnidri****, **_**Irish. lee**_**, ****konan248****, **_**Ever-lethargic**_**, ****mistywind****, **_**Bluegirl-334**_**, ****Animeisheaven****, **_**Emeraldsaregreen**_**, ****Elizamed****, **_**Lizard LIZZY**_** for the follows favorites and reviews!**

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**Bluegirl-334: Surprise! Tatsuya and Ara came back and they are out for blood! Muwahahahaha! Only a few days into Natsumi's second year and a major shift had happened. Natsumi would definitely get her revenge on those fangirls even if it's everyone else who really wants said revenge and not her**

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**CassieInTheDark: I feel like I had disappointed you with what had happened after the cliffhanger. I tried to write it with a more dramatic flair and a lot of shouting but I feel like they would have just gotten kicked out leaving Natsumi clueless so I guess I went for the calmer approach**

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**Irish. lee: First of all I'm sorry I had to cut your name in half as I do most of pen names they'd disappear magically (like empty lines) if it's connected so *shrug* Also, I'm glad you enjoyed this story and I'll try to update as regularly as I could.**

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**konan248: The fangirls were going too far with what they did to Natsumi but I thought they would have eventually went increasingly extreme when she seemed unfazed by their harassment. The Roller Coaster Mystery was something Natsumi would probably rather not unravel if she could help it.**

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**Ever-Lethargic: I hope this made Natsumi's character a bit more defined. I admit that at first I had planned not to make her interact with the characters as much, sticking to her 'background character' persona more closely but I blame the 'Sick Week Incident' for eventually making her more than a blimp on the other characters' radar**

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**Animeisheaven: I hope this chapter was worth the wait!**

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**I hope this chapter clarified a few things.**


	9. Chapter 8pt2

**CHAPTER 8.5:**

**EXTRA SCENES!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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**EXTRA SCENE pt 1:**

Hibari Alaude is not in a good mood right now. (That was an understatement.)

A student of his had nearly died last night and he had no idea. The worst part is said student _lives right across his house._ He wouldn't have noticed anything amiss either if it wasn't for that d*mn Gesso.

He saw the white-haired heir break into his student's house. He was just about to check in and see if the purple-eyed teen was being a menace again when said albino rushed out of the Emiya residence. Deciding to see if his student is alright instead of following the older teen, he was steadily getting more and more annoyed when no one answered the door. He was downright _irritated_ when it turned out no one was home in the first place.

Some airhead would have thought his student went with Gesso with whatever stupid idea the heir had this time but he was Alaude and he immediately noticed something awry. His first clue was that Emiya's school bag wasn't there.

Time was wasted getting Emiya's contact number through the school system when her phone wasn't even ringing.

He woke up his youngest brother and had his Disciplinary Committee look for the missing student along with Alaude's own contacts.

Midnight and finally another clue came up. Emiya's schoolbag was found in a trashcan near the upperclass residences. The phone wasn't in there so it was probably where the student is.

The next news they had was Emiya getting admitted to the hospital by none other than Gesso himself.

Alaude was already about to cuff the albino to _death_. At least until the teen finally coughed out what _really_ happened that night that got Emiya admitted to ER.

And that, _that_ had Alaude livid.

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**EXTRA SCENE pt 2:**

Hibari Fon had his serene smile in place through sheer force of will.

I-Pin had confessed to him being worried about Emiya-san when the high school student didn't come by the patisserie like she had promised the day before. And Emiya-san _always_ kept her promises of visiting the patisserie.

Fon had reassured his apprentice that Emiya-san might just be having an off day today. Or maybe she was just with friends tonight because it _is _the first day school.

(Fon was feeling uneasy about his most frequent costumer's absence too but he didn't pay the feeling much attention. He should have had. He should have known by now to trust in his gut instinct.)

I-Pin had reluctantly let the matter drop.

That night, Fon just couldn't sleep and was alert when his older brother not so quietly barged into the youngest Hibari's room and demanded cooperation from the Disciplinary Committee in trying to find a possibly missing student.

The possibly missing student's name is _Emiya Natsumi_.

Fon rushed out of bed and joined the searching.

He was the one who found Emiya-san's bag in a trashcan when he noticed the glinting of the plastic seashells charm she had put on her bag's zipper.

(He had overheard I-Pin asking about it. The high school student explained it was something her brother bought for her on his first salary of being a wildlife photographer and she _treasured_ it.)

The news about Emiya-san getting rushed to the hospital came to him a bit later then rest because he was the farthest. He arrived just in time to see the Gesso heir _literally_ cough out an explanation from where Alaude had him pinned on the ground.

It was the first time in years that Fon needed to use his breathing exercises again to keep calm.

He vowed to keep a closer eye on Emiya Natsumi from then on.

This _will not_ happen again.

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**EXTRA SCENE pt 3:**

Hibari Kyoya would have happily stayed away from the herbivore named Emiya Natsumi if he had the choice. The stupid herbivore was too clingy, too touchy for his taste. (Ignoring the fact that _everyone_ is too touchy for his taste, d*mn crowding.)

Kyoya have had a bad feeling that late afternoon and he trusted his superior carnivore instincts so he patrolled more viciously.

Nonetheless nothing came up until it was time to go home (less he get dragged back to the house again by his blond carnivore brother).

His instinct still made him feel uneasy and sleep was rather light and fleeting that night.

He was _irritated_ when the blond carnivore slammed his door open loudly like some ungraceful herbivore. He was even more irritated getting ordered. He did what was told anyway because if a student was missing then it's his duty as Head Prefect to help find the student.

He snarled at the useless idiot that told him the baby-faced carnivore was the one who first found a clue. (He ignored Kusakabe telling him that he and his brothers had the same face.)

He ignored his two brothers that went straight to the hospital and instead prowled towards the useless 'security guard' on duty that night. The herbivore had the gall to tell a carnivore like him that he couldn't have the information he wanted. That behavior was easily corrected.

After finding out what happened, Kyoya had bitten the herbivore to the death anyway for incompetence.

He prowled towards the storage room where the stupid herbivore student was found. (Kyoya must have patrolled through this same corridor countless times that afternoon and snarled when he realized he didn't find anything amiss back then.)

He found a phone abandoned inside the storage room and took it before pocketing it.

The stupid herbivore would most likely try to locate the device and would eventually come to him to retrieve it. Then they will have a _talk_.

(Kyoya would assign guard rotations on the stupid herbivore since she can't even protect herself. _Weak._)

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**EXTRA SCENE pt 4:**

Giotto Vongola was not having a good week.

People had been breathing down his neck to fix this and he's trying his best d*mn it!

He knew the senior students had gotten off lightly and he would have had asked for a worse punishment too if he could (but he couldn't without the incident going public). After all, Emiya Natsumi is _his student_ too! And he was equally horrified that she _nearly died_.

But couldn't they understand? Those senior students had been his students too and he didn't want them having their futures robbed from them because of a single bad decision.

They were feeling guilty for what they did. They didn't mean for it to go that far. They didn't mean for Emiya-san to nearly die. They wanted to beg Emiya-san for forgiveness because they knew what they did was wrong.

Who was he to deny that?

The meeting yesterday with Emiya-san and her guardians didn't go very well. Emiya-san didn't seem like she wanted the students expelled (bless his student's pure soul) but her older brother and apparently said brother's lover were all for expulsion. The meeting with only the couple and no intermediary influence of Emiya-san was one the Math teacher didn't want a repeat of. They stubbornly wanted the expulsion to happen _and_ the 'attempted murder' exposed. The couple also _knew_ they would likely hurt the chances of said students ever getting accepted in other schools, not with the scandal of them nearly killing a fellow student going public and nipping at their heels wherever they would have gone.

At this point, Giotto would happily agree with the punishment Emiya-san had thought up on the spot if it meant the seniors wouldn't get expelled. Having Alaude's youngest brother as the seniors' sort of supervisor would hopefully satisfy the couple's sadistic tendencies.

Giotto knew his only chance of getting the couple to agree on something else other expulsion was to get Emiya-san to agree on it first.

That's why he decided to visit Emiya-san an hour before the official visiting hours. (He might have dodged some Disciplinary Committee members and a harried-looking nurse.)

The sophomore looked shocked and wary of his early visit and he did his best to smile at her reassuringly.

When Emiya-san finally reluctantly greeted him, Giotto internally prepped himself up. He only has an hour to convince her not to get the five senior students expelled after all. Every second counts.

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**I was so sad my version of Giotto got a lot hates and I thought this might help a bit in understanding his motivations. I think Giotto would have been a forgiving person to anyone especially if he knew them before, and these were his students the year before. Also, since he knew Natsumi didn't want the seniors expelled, he'd probably also push for no expulsion. He was also angry that Natsumi nearly died and had done nothing about the seniors getting the maximum punishment the school could get away with, with only 'messing with security' as an excuse.**

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**In other news, I hope you enjoy these extra scenes!**


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9:**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE VIEWS, REVIEWS, FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES!**

**So here's another chapter!**

**I'm sorry about this being so late. You see, when I reread the first version of this chapter I found it too angsty when this story is supposed to be humor. I had to rewrite everything. **

**WARNING: Some characters might be OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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Vongola Giotto visited Natsumi a full hour before the official visiting hours. It made her nervous.

Was there some sort of bad news? Were the bullies demanding to talk to her or something? Would she be forced to interact with them?

Frankly, Natsumi wasn't ready.

Especially when she wanted them to be chaperoned by _Hibari-sempai_ of all people. She could already picture the conversation with those girls.

_So yeah, you're trying to be chummy-chummy with me to show how sorry you are. Now I need to have a civil conversation with you to sell it enough that you won't get expelled. By the way, I got Hibari-sempai babysitting you on your punishment I suggested. Isn't that great? Let's be friends forever!_

Definitely not a fantastic way of making friends or heck even just acquaintances.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, Emiya-san," Vongola-sensei apologized.

"It's okay Sensei. Are we going to talk about something urgent?" Natsumi asked.

"…not exactly," he confessed and it made her even more nervous.

She bit her lower lip before hesitantly asking, "Are you going to make me talk to them?"

"Err…no?"

"'No' never or 'no' not yet?"

"…no not yet."

That made Natsumi slump, "I guess that's inevitable. What are we going to talk about then, Sensei?" Just the thought of having to talk to those bullies was enough to sour her mood.

"I want to talk about the punishment the seniors would receive."

The brunette perked up at that, "Did you, Tatsu-nii and Ara finally agreed on something?"

Vongola-sensei winced at that, "Actually, not yet. We can't seem to agree on anything so…"

"They wanted expulsion, didn't they? They won't budge?"

"Yeah…I was hoping you would help me convince them to change their mind." Vongola Giotto used 'puppy eyes'. It's effective!

Natsumi tried to look anywhere but her Homeroom teacher's hopeful eyes but it was no use. She gave in with a sigh, "I don't want them to get expelled either."

Vongola-sensei perked up at that.

"But I think two weeks suspension is too mild for what they did. And…and I don't even know their faces nor know their names but I'd rather not have to see them or talk to them and I know that's impossible unless they leave or…_I _leave." Natsumi thought about it long and hard these past few nights. Maybe she could just ask Vongola-sensei to let her transfer without consequences, considering she's one of their scholarship students. Other schools would probably not look as good in her resume, unless she could miraculously enter Millefiore Academy after the year had already started, but it beats being forced to interact with the people that nearly killed her for the rest of the school year.

"We don't want you to leave either!" her Homeroom teacher told her firmly and a bit panicky.

Natsumi's lip twitched up involuntarily at that, "Thank you, Sensei. But can you guarantee that you'll be able to ask for firmer punishment without telling anyone what happened to me? From what I heard, it seems like everyone thinks I was just sick or something."

His eyes was full of guilt as he told her, "Emiya-san, I want you to understand. If it came out they nearly killed a fellow student of theirs, it would follow them for the rest of their days. We'll be hard-pressed _not _to expel them and they'll have a hard time finding a school that would accept them."

"That contradicts you asking for a firmer punishment," she pointed out.

"They _will_ get a firmer punishment Emiya-san. No one would just know why. And the punishment you had suggested yesterday was _perfect_," he then gave her a pleased smile, like he finally got his point across.

Natsumi mulled at that for a bit until she finally understood what her teacher meant, "What I suggested yesterday wouldn't sound so severe if it was _Hibari-sempai_. After all, it's about the 'security of the school' and everybody knows Hibari-sempai takes that seriously."

"Exactly! No one has to know what you had to go through Emiya-san," Vongola-sensei told her with all due sympathy.

"B-but what happened that night…" she brought up but couldn't find the words to continue that thought.

She was _bullied_ and if that fact hadn't made her so ashamed of herself, then them nearly killing her and not being able to do anything about it, not being able to _fight back_…she kind of hated herself a bit for that. She kept thinking about how it would have turned out differently if she had just fought back or asked for help when it started. But no, she was _too weak_.

"You'll _still_ have to attend mandatory therapy sessions Emiya-san," Vongola-sensei's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

The brunette grudgingly nodded at that because even _she_ could recognize how much that night affected her thought process. Even until now, questions plague her thoughts. How would the people around her that _knew_ act after this? Would they pity her? Would they think she's weak? Would they laugh at her behind her back?

Natsumi mentally shook herself out of those thoughts and outwardly gave Vongola-sensei a 'sweet' smile that doesn't reach her eyes, "As long as _you _are the one who'll talk to Hibari-sempai, Sensei."

She could picture him mentally flailing a bit before visibly slumping in resignation.

_Serves him right_, she thought.

Before the blond could say anything else, the door opened gently admitting Keiko-san.

"Good morning, Natsumi-chan! Ready for today's−" the nurse cut herself off when she finally noticed the extra person in the room. "What are you doing here?!" the already-harried looking nurse looked even more stressed after finding someone inside Natsumi's hospital room _before_ visiting hours.

The blond teacher apologized profusely to the nurse holding him by the collar. He was then unceremoniously thrown-out of the room. The sophomore did nothing but snicker at him.

Again, serves him right. Especially when Natsumi has the feeling Vongola-sensei manipulated the conversation into getting what he wanted.

She grinned even more widely when she heard her Homeroom teacher sound so nervous, muffled as it was behind a close door, while saying, "Alaude, Kyoya, fancy meeting you both here."

She winced though when she heard an almost in sync, "I'll cuff/bite you death." Then the sound of a fight, screaming, and things breaking were heard.

Meanwhile, Keiko-san seemed to be seeking guidance from the heavens judging by the muttered 'Kami-sama' while looking at the ceiling.

Overall it was an eventful morning that Friday.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is sorry too for the delayed chapter*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Eventually, Tatsuya and Ara found out about Vongola-sensei visiting Natsumi before the official visiting hours. And they weren't very happy about it.

They weren't very happy about the fact that Natsumi had already agreed for a different punishment either.

If looks could kill, Vongola-sensei would have died a hundred times over by now.

Not that he looked any better now after getting tag-teamed by two Hibaris, even if Asari-sensei and Rossi-sensei intervened before Vongola-sensei got any major injury.

"You should not have let him talk to you without the two of us. Who knows what sh*t he put inside your head," Ara told her bluntly.

Both Natsumi and her teacher immediately sputtered in indignation at that.

"_I _was the one who suggested that originally! You were there when I said it!" the younger girl pointed out.

"And who convinced you it was enough? Was it him?" Tatsuya countered then gestured over to the blond with his thumb.

"W-well…that doesn't change the fact that I don't want anyone expelled!" she argued.

"So you want to go to school and encounter the same people that nearly killed you while walking down the hallways?" Ara pointed out.

And that made Natsumi wince but she steeled herself and told them what she had been meaning to say to them for a while now, "I wouldn't know if it was them. I never saw their faces. _No one_ told me their names or anything about them other than being senior students either."

This time all three adults in the room winced and Natsumi nearly scoffed at that.

"Okay then, assuming it was really just you that decided the punishment but that doesn't seem enough to me _or_ to your brother Natsumi. Do you know how worried and angry _and horrified_ we were when we found out you were in the hospital and had nearly died? We just left and immediately the day after _that_ happened," Ara pointed out instead.

"Especially after you had practically begged us to extend our stay. If we had stayed, if we had been there we would have noticed immediately that you were missing. You never would have been in that much danger from _hypothermia_ of all things," Tatsuya added.

The younger Emiya immediately felt guilty of that. She didn't even spare a thought about how her brother and his girlfriend had felt finding out what happened to her thousands of miles away from her.

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. I just…I didn't want what happened getting out and I know if you would ask for something more serious then it would have to come out. And I didn't−I don't want anyone getting expelled because of me."

There was silence and Natsumi's eyes were tearing up already when Tatsuya sighed and hugged her, "You're too sweet Natsumi."

The sophomore reflexively denied that claim.

"And we're sorry too," Ara added, "we didn't really ask how you feel about this, didn't we? We just asked what you wanted to do and then shooting down your suggestion anyway."

"That was a d−err…_prick_ move," Natsumi managed to correct herself but the damage was done.

The female blackette snickered, her Tatsu-nii hissed her name and lightly jabbed her side, and the one who made choking noises must be Vongola-sensei.

The mood lightened after that. The three adults decided to talk somewhere else (the two blackettes promising Natsumi they'll not ask for expulsion even if they'll press for a firmer punishment) when Keiko-san asked them to leave because they are stressing her patient.

Natsumi waved at them goodbye with a smile.

No one was getting expelled because of her. That's good enough for her…even if she couldn't talk her way out of the therapy sessions.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is licensed therapist for traumatized, disregarded lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi blinked once. Twice.

What the heck?! She just went to the bathroom for a minute!

Where there had previously been her standard hospital bed is now a king-sized one complete with a new (light blue) blanket, comforter (suspiciously in the same shade as Kikyo-san's hair) and three pillows.

For the love chocolates, the bed is even made of wood!

"W-Wha…h-how…?" Natsumi managed to stutter out after gaping at it for a long time.

"You're welcome," a male voice said behind her and it made her jump.

Natsumi whirled to face the voice and saw Byakuran-san. "Did you do this?!" she asked/yelled.

"Yep, did you like it?"

"No! What happened to my bed?!"

"Hm…probably chilling somewhere near the hospital's dumpster."

"_Byakuran!_"

"But we weren't gonna fit there so I brought a bigger one," he whined.

"Of course we're not gonna fit in a hospital bed. It wasn't made for two! And who said you could lie down beside me?"

"But watching movies would not have been enjoyable sitting in that awfully uncomfortable hospital chair."

"That's your problem!"

"Exactly! It's why I came up with a solution. Ta-da!" he then gestured to the bed with both hands like a showman presenting the next performer on the stage.

It made Natsumi facepalm.

(She set herself up for that trap too easily. Byakuran snickered.)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is currently busy comforting the discarded hospital bed, please wait a moment*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Thankfully, Natsumi held the decision on what they would watch so they didn't watch anything horror or gory.

Unfortunately, she was stupid enough to watch something she'll cry over. Hachi: A Dog's Tale.

She was never a pretty crier. She was all puffy eyes, red nose and quite the amount of snot.

And when the scene where Hachi was finally reunited with his owner, albeit in the afterlife, Natsumi could no longer hold back her sobs.

Why is she doing this to herself?!

Byakuran-san snickered. Natsumi glared at him, "You heartless fiend."

"I wasn't laughing at the movie, I was laughing at you," he defended himself, smiling at her like a loon.

She elbowed him in the gut.

When the credits rolled, Natsumi decided to choose the next movie too and picked a comedy. 3 Idiots, with subtitles so she could understand.

It was mostly comedy (especially the trolled speech) and there were emotional parts but at least those didn't get her sobbing her eyes out.

(Natsumi was proud of what she eventually picked for the second movie because Byakuran-san seemed to be enjoying it too.)

But if the previous movie was only around one and a half hours long, the second one was approximately two hours and 45 minutes.

It ate up the rest of the afternoon.

A nurse, not Keiko-san because her shift had ended earlier, had asked Byakuran-san to leave and Natsumi let out a sigh of relief when the older teen left without a fuss.

That night, unlike any other night, Natsumi slept rather easily.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line vows revenge on the wooden double bed*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was the last day of her confinement in the hospital and Sasaki-sensei finally announced that there didn't seem to be any complications.

Natsumi is excited to be checked out that afternoon.

As a celebration, I-Pin managed to sneak in a slice of cake. (The waitress asked about the double bed but thankfully dropped the conversation when the sophomore asked her to.)

"I-Pin-chan, have I ever told you how much I love you?" the older girl asked as she stared longingly and hungrily at the slice of red velvet cake.

The Chinese girl just giggled at that.

The sophomore savored every bite of the first cake she had had for days.

The younger girl couldn't stay long though since she's still needed in the pastry shop. Natsumi waved at her goodbye, thanking her over and over again for bringing her some cake (even Tatsuya disagreed in sneaking her some sweets).

It was afternoon when her brother, Ara and Vongola-sensei visited her together.

The first thing they brought up was the double bed.

Natsumi nervously explained where it came from and Tatsuya narrowed his eyes at the mention of Byakuran-san. Natsumi immediately changed the topic and asked them what happened to their discussion.

"We finally agreed on something, yay!" Tatsuya announced with forced cheer.

Ara smack him lightly over the head before addressing the younger girl, "They're suspension would be extended to a month."

Vongola-sensei's face looked carefully blank so Natsumi didn't know if he was okay or not with the extension. Instead, her teacher continued, "Since a student couldn't chaperone them for the _six weeks_ they are going to be 'satisfactorily' cleaning the storage rooms and public _female _bathrooms, a few of the senseis would pitch in."

"Which senseis?" Natsumi asked, curious.

Her Homeroom teacher just gave her a teasing grin, "Don't worry, they are 'unbribable'."

Natsumi sputtered at that while the two blackettes snickered. Traitors!

"It would be Hibari-sensei, Spade-sensei, Rossi-sensei and Asari-sensei," the blond enumerated.

Natsumi could understand the first three but the last one, "Don't Asari-sensei seem…too nice?"

Vongola-sensei's brow lifted at that and Natsumi hastily explained herself.

"I-I mean…he seemed so nice. He might end up helping them instead of supervising them."

The blond heir's face had a look of understanding, "Ah…don't worry. Ugetsu _is _a genuinely nice and easy-going person but even he was upset at what happened to you. He won't let them slack, I promise."

Natsumi bit her lower lip to stop herself from arguing further and nodded instead.

"Don't worry Natsu," Tatsuya interjected, "Ara and I talked to Asari-san as well. I know he won't let them slack."

The sophomore's brows rose in surprise. When did the two talk to her Literature teacher?

She was about to ask just that when someone knocked. Without waiting for a reply, the door opened.

It was Bovino Lambo and what looked like an older Bovino Lambo, only with light green hair and electric blue eyes.

What the heck is with boys and looking exactly like their older male relatives except for a few details?

The greenette immediately left but Bovino-san joined them.

"I just came here because Lampo forced me and also because I want to apologize to Natsu-nee-san," Bovino-san recited the first part like a whine but sounded genuinely contrite on the last part.

The three adults' faces seemed to say 'for what?' but Natsumi ignored them.

"It's okay, Bovino-san. What happened wasn't your fault," she told the younger, albeit taller, boy.

"But you're…" the wavy-haired blackette then gestured at her lying on a not-so-standard hospital bed.

"Wait…what? What do you mean this is your fault? Who are you?" Tatsuya asked in confusion.

"Natsu-nee-san just defended me from the octopus-head," the middle school student explained, which in the adults' point of view didn't really explain anything. It just made things more confusing.

Vongola-sensei decided to just ask Natsumi instead, "Why don't Emiya-san just explain everything from the start?"

The sophomore gave her Homeroom a teacher a look, "You just thought of asking me my side _now_?"

The blond teacher blushed at that and even the two other adults looked sheepish. This time Natsumi did scoff at them.

When Natsumi started her not-really-that-long tale, Bovino-san sat on the bed. (He would have lied down beside the brunette but was glared at by the two older males.)

She told them what happened before she toured the first year students, then told them the version of what happened that spread via rumors. She reluctantly narrated about getting punched in the hallway, getting juice poured on her, and the glares and sneers she received throughout the day. She told them about walking downstairs from the library but blacking out, and then waking up somewhere dark.

She lamely finished with 'you know the rest', not looking up from staring at her fidgeting hand.

As expected, the adults were disappointed at her.

They made her promise to tell someone on the first sign of bullying instead of letting it get worse and Natsumi just nodded along.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*How many cows did you count jumping over the moon before falling asleep? I counted to 1,000 once, didn't work at all*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi was eventually checked out of the hospital that Saturday afternoon. (The fees paid by a mysterious benefactor. No one even mentioned to her about the double bed. Hmm…)

Her mood hasn't lifted one bit.

Tatsuya and Ara tried to cheer her up by detouring to Hibari-san's patisserie but it only mildly and temporarily lifted Natsumi's mood.

Approximately around the time she and I-pin exchanged a look when Tatsuya said something about her enjoying her first bite of cake for days.

_Jokes on you, Tatsu-nii_, she thought.

Her good mood didn't last for long, even after Tatsuya cooked her favorite for dinner, pork tonkatsu.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*How you live your life would reflect on whether you have laugh lines or frown lines when you're old*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Tatsuya and Ara found out how Natsumi frequently visits the local orphanage even when she never made any mention of it.

At the sight of worried little faces, Natsumi couldn't help but smile and reassure them that she was okay now. She's not very sick anymore thus she didn't have to stay in the hospital.

Her mood eventually lifted up as she played with the children or listened to their stories. In no time she was freely grinning and laughing.

Especially when the children tasted Tatsuya's cooking and was now convincing her older brother to 'stay at the orphanage forever'.

Natsumi and Ara pretended they didn't notice him silently asking for help as the two girls chatted with the orphanage matron, whose eyes are twinkling with mischief as well.

The female Emiya smiled to herself.

It seems like everything is okay again.

(At least until she found out neither blackette has her phone. Where the heck is it then?)

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is scared, the author has yet to stop evil laughing*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

**EXTRA SCENE pt 1:**

Hibari Kyoya had tracked down every single one of those pathetic herbivores that thought they are above the other herbivores just because they have numbers on their side.

Every single time he gave them his verdict, every single time they reacted the same way, begging and pleading for mercy.

_Pathetic_.

There is no mercy for those who broke the order of things.

He had just doled out the last of the punishment when he briefly patted the stupid herbivore's phone from where it had always been since he found it, on his pants' right pocket.

He wondered when the stupid herbivore would approach him for it.

Kyoya snorted when he thought of the possibility that the stupid herbivore hadn't even notice the device missing.

Even the stupid herbivore can't be _that_ stupid. Although he has no high expectations from an herbivore.

(Alaude and Fon pretended they didn't notice Kyoya sneaking out at night.)

**.**

**EXTRA SCENE pt2:**

Gesso Byakuran hummed as he scanned five different folders in front of him.

They're families are from the upperclass, yes, but not even close to the same level as the Vongolas, Gessos, Spades, Giglio Neros and Rossis and heck the Bovinos.

In fact, they're just about high enough in society to afford Vongola High with no discounts or scholarships usually handed out to those who passed the entrance exam with high scores.

If he remembered correctly, these same families were getting too uppity lately after they officially signed a five-way alliance three years back. They had also annoyed a lot of the older, more powerful families after they got too full of themselves having such a 'strong' alliance.

Byakuran suddenly broke out into a Cheshire grin.

_Perfect_.

This was for messing with his new toy.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**If any of you are interested how the angsty version went, here's a short part of it.**

"Don't you want to talk to them **(A/N: the bullies)**?" her Homeroom teacher asked.

"I don't think I want to Sensei. I don't think I _ever_ want to. I…I just don't want what happened to be brought up and just you know…" Natsumi groaned because how does she put into words what she feels, "I didn't even want anyone to know I was getting bullied. Do you know how hard it was to swallow the fact that people can walk all over you because they can and you have no choice but to let them? Because it's just _you_ and there's too many of them and even if you brought it up they'll probably just say something about 'lying' or 'trying to get attention'. And then they'll get believed more because everyone knows them better than that, right? It's why I agreed that everything else that happened was an 'accident' even when you can't actually accidentally punch someone in the gut in the hallways." She might have said the last line a bit bitterly because she might not have bruised but it _hurt_.

"We're your teachers, we would have looked into it," Vongola-sensei countered.

Natsumi snorted at that, "Really? If there was no evidence that they were the ones that locked me in the storage closet, would you have believed they could do something like that?"

**.**

**In other words it was **_**really**_** angsty for Natsumi. So I tried to change how the conversation went.**

**And this happened.**

**Well…I hope you still like this anyway**

**.**

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**THANK YOU ****CassieInTheDark****, **_**Bluegirl-334**_**, ****konan248****, **_**Animeisheaven**_**, ****Sara****, **_**OrnateGluestick**_**, ****kitten0612****, **_**karin angel**_**, ****Roningirlkisa****, **_**Katya Sirin**_**, ****ArticXice****, **_**River Nailo-Chaos**_**, ****decimo2750****, **_**Hana27Reborn**_** and a guest for the reviews, follows and favorites!**

**.**

**CassieInTheDark: Natsumi blurting out the cyan hair was a stroke of randomness actually, hahahaha. You're awesome for liking that scene **thumbs up* I don't think Natsumi's coping well with Alaude and Kyoya getting mad though, hehe**

**.**

**Bluegirl-334: You might think this is it but the revenge is not over yet. Byakuran's after their families' *sses now. Poor girls who messed with Natsumi. Giotto made so many sacrifices (like being the Hibari triad's ire's main focus and actually getting tag-teamed in a fight) so they won't get expelled but Byakuran is still plotting something**

**.**

**Sara and OrnateGluestick: The rather extreme bullying was not something I could condone either so I gave them a severe punishment that could even lessen Tatsuya and Ara's need for blood. I hope this is acceptable even if they didn't actually get expelled.**

**.**

**konan248 and Guest: I actually had a hard time formulating this response. And I tried so hard to defend Giotto's point of view and his 'no expulsion' stance but it seems like the opposition is just too powerful, incensed older siblings and the Hibari triad's own way of showing displeasure and all. Not to mention **_**Byakuran **_**and that's just a whole different can of worms from Kyoya's own version of disciplining**_**. **_**The bullies didn't get expelled, there's that, but Natsumi didn't want to talk to them either even if Giotto would probably push for it, just so that the bullies could properly apologize. At least the incident wouldn't get out (thanks to Natsumi's unhealthy reluctance) so they would probably still be able to continue their studies without a very negative stigma nipping at their heels**

**.**

**Animeisheaven: I'm glad you love the extra scenes. It was Alaude's reaction that I first thought of when I decided to make several extra scenes.**

**.**

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**.**

**This chapter probably didn't come out as light as it should have been. I just found out that some teachers (some of my own teachers when I was still in high school) had disregarded my younger sister's own explanations (that they didn't even properly hear out before dismissing as a lie) in favor of her classmates' because there's two of them saying it. I was so disappointed in said teachers, one of which was my favorite back then. (Well she isn't anymore, screw her.) The incident might have happened months ago and I just found earlier this week but it doesn't mean I was less affected by the injustice. Considering it was my mother who had to tell me what happened when said no-longer-favorite teacher pulled her aside to talk to her about my sister's (imaginary) misbehavior. Urrghhh!**

**This might have caused me to be harsher on the bullies via Hibari Kyoya and Byakuran.**

**Woops.**

**Sorry but not sorry. Picturing those five bullies as the two girls that got my baby sister in trouble. In other words, screw them.**

**I want to rage badly but I'm 84.5 miles away from home and my sister just graduated and consequently got out of that place so there's no use for it.**

**Well, in any case, sorry about that rant.**

**.**

**I hope you still enjoyed this chapter!**


	11. AN: Hiatus

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I'M SO SORRY but as the chapter title suggests I'm going on a temporary hiatus.**

**Things at work had been hectic for a while (probably because I was assigned to keep track of three different reports coming from almost 200 offices **_**and**_** filing them accordingly, d*mn paper cut) and add to that the fact that I'm applying for my Master's degree…**

**Let's just say that the time I had put aside for writing this story was eaten up by studying for the entrance exam and going through the checklist of requirements.**

**This would be a very brief hiatus I swear on my cat's life. I'll probably be able to post chapters again after the entrance exam is over, which is about a month from now.**

**I could definitely testify that writing this story is a lot more enjoyable than writing an application letter **_**and **_**a separate essay as for why I'm applying for said specific course (worse, with minimum word count).**

**I'm really sorry my dear readers. I will miss all of you.**


	12. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10:**

**Honestly I don't know where to start…so I'll just ramble.**

**As you all know I studied a full month before the entrance exam. I was told there would be math problems, vocabulary words and essay on recent events, and with such broad subjects I practically tried to cram what I could. I re-studied typical statistics and math word problems, actually got to 'DEVILISH' level in the 'How Strong Is Your Vocabulary Words' of Merriam- Webster App (everyone that had tried this knows how f*cking hard it is to get there) and studied important events from 2018 to May 2019 for 'recent events'.**

**And you know what? There are no math problems, there are no vocabulary words, just freaking **_**essays**_**. And that would have been fine but you know what they considered as 'recent events'? **_**2012-2017!**_** F*CKING HILARIOUS!**

**I literally studied FOR NOTHING.**

**It's like studying quantum physics only to find out that the test was about inorganic chemicals. I FREAKING HATE CHEMISTRY.**

**In the last part of the exam, there's this 1000-word essay that was worth 40% and I only got about 250 words before the time was up.**

**I freaking cried on the bus home.**

**What happened on the month after was my work trying to drown me because they had 'relented' on giving me a 'light' load in view of my entrance exam.**

**And by drowning in work I meant 'I literally slept through the weekends out of exhaustion' type of drowning. I finally got a free weekend but I'll probably got avalanched in papers again next week.**

**Hope I survive it for a hopefully weekly chapter.**

**That's about it for my rant.**

**.**

**.**

**ALSO I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS STORY IS STILL ALIVE. I was almost afraid to look at it or any notifications in my e-mail from this site. You don't know how thankful I am that you're still reading this my beloved readers.**

**.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Natsumi has a huge problem. Scratch that. Natsumi has huge _problems_.

It starts with an angry editor and ends with a missing cellphone.

Apparently being hospitalized meant you can't answer e-mails from frantic and demanding editors. Who knew? But thankfully, Editor-san was quite understanding of what happened to Natsumi and only ranted a bit about how Natsumi should notify relevant contacts when she goes and gets herself almost killed, subsequently going into an unplanned hiatus via hospital confinement, because you know, that's rather important and should not have been forgotten in the midst of the drama. (Uh-huh.)

Next is the homework and requirements that piled up so high you wouldn't think it was just the first week of school. _Those _she did not enjoy at all. (Not like she enjoyed getting chewed out by her editor either.)

Third is an albino named 'Gesso Byakuran'. Natsumi didn't even want either Tatsuya or Ara to know about her friendship (or is it best friendship? Hmm…) with the older teen but since when did the world ever give her what she wanted, eh? She would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for _the darn wooden bed_ that peaked the two blackettes' interest in the white-haired teen. Natsumi had been successfully redirecting the conversations when Byakuran-san comes up but she knew it was only a matter of time before _that_ conversation will finally happen. (It'll be the albino's fault too, she could feel it.)

And lastly was her still missing phone. All her contacts are there. She didn't make it a habit to memorize phone numbers because she reasoned she'll just check her phone if need be but too bad Natsumi, you're phone's gone. Boo-hoo to you. She has no idea where that phone of hers went off to now. Her only clue was Hibari Fon-san's lips twitching up minutely when he overheard her asking around for her phone. (Now what the heck does that even mean?)

And with that note, she's now cheerfully on her way to school. (Note the sarcasm.)

The only thing that had gotten her to part with her bed this morning is her brother's promise that they'll see Shazam after she got out of school.

Now she just had to finish the 'school' part of the deal.

Yay…

.

.

Natsumi expected judgmental looks and snickers when she finally steps inside the Vongola High building.

She did not expect a gaggle of concerned first years asking her how she was.

After getting flustered for the first few seconds, Natsumi was able to at least answer their questions satisfactorily. Yes, she's fine now. No, it wasn't really _that_ serious *cue awkward laugh*. Yes, the offer to answer any of their questions still stands. No, she _did not_ get kidnapped, what a hilarious joke right? _Right_?Yes, of course they could ask her help in their subjects as well if they needed it. She usually spends after school at the library even if she won't today. Just approach her anytime.

When the freshmen finally went their way, the brunette was left standing in front of her locker, still utterly confused about what happened.

"They imprinted on you," a familiar voice said and it jolted Natsumi out of her daze.

She turned and saw Gokudera-san standing with his customary slump, hands on his pockets.

"Like ducklings," the silver-haired teen continued but Natsumi was still confused. When Gokudera-san noted her lack of understanding, he clicked his tongue. He gritted his teeth for a while before sighing, some tension bleeding out of his shoulder.

"You're the first sempai they met and talked to. They're attached," he explained further.

Natsumi frowned at that, "By that logic, they should have 'imprinted' on _you_ as well."

The silverette raised an eyebrow at that, sending the vibe that he was questioning Natsumi's intelligence and that kind of made Natsumi blush in embarrassment.

"I showed them I wasn't really above hitting an underclassman if I thought they deserve it, and frankly that impression is true, don't give a f*ck. _You _on the other hand showed that you'd stand up for them even against another fellow," Gokudera-san irritatedly explained.

Natsumi was pretty sure her mouth formed an 'o' at that.

Gokudera-san clicked his tongue again before saying 'follow me' and walking away.

The female sophomore seemed to be rather slow today because she only watched his back before the silver-haired student stopped and glared at her to follow then stalked off much faster than before.

The female Emiya rushed to follow him while somewhere at the back of her mind she's screaming 'Why the heck am I even following him?'.

.

.

Natsumi followed Gokudera-san all the way to the Music Room.

The male sophomore eventually sat down in front of the grand piano and the brunette settled into standing awkwardly at the side.

The silver-haired teen tested a few keys first before he finally started into a rhythm and then a song.

And it was beautiful. It was soothing but at the same time it sounded so…heartbreakingly sad.

Natsumi didn't want to close her eyes and instead followed the movement of his fingers across the keys.

It ended (she'd like to say too soon but that sounded overused and cliché) with an echo of the last note lingering in the air.

Gokudera-san released a silent breath through his mouth and turned to Natsumi expectantly.

"Err…it's beautiful…?" the female Emiya said unsurely.

And then an awkward silence settled between them.

Natsumi eventually broke it, a blush creeping up her face, "I'm sorry but I don't know what you want me to say. I'm not really good at music. Heck my knowledge is probably minimal at best so I can't really say anything other than 'It sounded beautiful' because that's all I can say about it."

The silverette snorted at that. He then sighed and faced her fully, "I was told what happened to you last week."

Natsumi was kind of expecting that but it didn't lessen the sting his words caused her. She bit her lip and looked away.

At the corner of her vision, the brunette saw Gokudera-san run a hand through his silver locks.

He groaned, "Look, I was told to apologize to you, okay?!"

The female Emiya couldn't help it, she snorted. _That didn't sound like an apology_, she thought surprisingly without bitterness. She was just…amused.

Still, the snort instantly earned her a glare.

"I'm not laughing at you Gokudera-san," Natsumi clarified, "In fact, it wasn't your fault. You have nothing to apologize for."

That earned her a skeptical look.

The brunette searched for the words to explain her thoughts, "Look, it wasn't you who told them to do it. So you held no responsibility over what they did." The male sophomore still looked unconvinced.

Maybe she should just use an example instead? "Uhmm…it's like back when I was in fifth grade. These fangirls of Tatsuya's, my brother, they threw me inside the incinerator because I didn't give a pair of Tatsuya's boxers." Gokudera-san's face went 'WTF' and Natsumi was happy someone _finally_ understood what she felt. She continued, "I know, right? I really thought they were joking so I didn't even pay much mind to that 'request' of theirs until I was getting shoved inside the incinerator. I got exhausted calling for help and eventually fell asleep. If the janitor hadn't checked inside before leaving or heck _using_ the thing I would have probably died. I didn't blame Tatsu-nii then. I still don't blame him now. So why the heck would I blame you? I blame those crazy fangirls. Heck, Tatsu-nii cringes at his and I'm pretty you cringe at yours too. There's no freaking way you and your fangirls are of the same mind when they did what they did."

There was silence as Gokudera-san let what Natsumi said sink in. In the meantime, the brunette was wiggling her toes inside her shoes just to pass time.

Natsumi only looked up again when she heard Gokudera-san snort.

"Let's go back. Bell's about to ring," he mumbled as he walked out of the door.

"Okay Gokudera-kun," she tested the new honorific.

The silver-haired student only paused for a bit but otherwise didn't comment.

Natsumi grinned. That _has_ to be better than the glares he sends to the fangirls that tried to call him 'Gokudera-kun' or the yells when anyone was b*llsy enough to call him 'Hayato-kun'. Right?

(At least she could internally cackle on the horrified looks she'll receive from said fangirls when she could call him 'Gokudera-kun' without any protest. Who said she wasn't petty enough to enjoy that?)

.

.

The two made it in time for the Homeroom to start.

Vongola-sensei just gave them a mildly reprimanding look before starting the class.

The barrage of questions after the class that Natsumi anticipated…didn't happen. She was tense for a whole minute there.

When she finally slumped back into her chair, a feminine voice startled her.

"Are you okay now, Emiya-san?" Sawada-san asked, a concerned look on her face that made her eyes a bit wider and her lower lip jut out. And sparkles. There were sparkles.

Before Natsumi could even form a response, Sasagawa-san appeared in her field of vision and asked with concern and a tilt of her head, "It must be an awful sickness if you were absent for a whole week. Are you sure you got plenty of rest?"

DOUBLE SPARKS!

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! ZERO VISIBILITY! HIGH POSSIBILITY OF CRASHING!

"Uhmm…"

Error. Natsumi. exe has crashed. Rebooting.

Reboot successful.

"I feel fine now," Natsumi replied with a smile she hoped didn't look too weird.

Sasagawa-san clapped her hand lightly in delight, "That's great!"

Sawada-san had just opened her mouth, about to say something, when a cold voice reverberated throughout the room.

"Emiya."

Natsumi had an odd sense of déjà vu.

"With me. Now."

It was not a request. Not like Natsumi could expect anything else but a commanding tone from Hibari Kyoya. Said sempai was standing by the door to their room, a scowl on his face as he glared at her.

Should she argue that next class is literally starting in about 20 seconds according to the analogue clock above the chalkboard?

With a resigned slump, the female Emiya was about to stand from her chair when another voice cut in.

"Remain in your seat, Emiya-san," Rossi-sensei countered blandly, entering the room without even glancing at the head prefect standing at the door he just entered.

It wasn't just Natsumi's jaw that dropped.

No one, and she meant NO ONE, ever dared opposed the orders of the Demon Prefect, not even Vongola-sensei and _he's _the son of the Principal. Heck not even _Hibari-sensei_ (although that's probably a bit because Hibari-sensei only passingly cares about the affairs of the Disciplinary Committee and mostly because no one had been 'summoned' yet while in the presence of said sensei).

Hibari-sempai's hand twitched and he grinded his teeth. He was just about to speak when Rossi-sensei cut him off.

"Whatever it is, it could wait until lunch," the pink−err _red_-haired teacher said.

This time a snarl appeared on the Demon Prefect's face and there was low and barely audible _growl_.

Rossi-sensei finally looked at the youngest Hibari brother and the two had a silent staredown, everyone in the room anticipating the outcome.

They glared at each other for about five minutes and Natsumi was pretty sure she couldn't even last a minute without blinking.

The conclusion was unexpected.

Hibari-sempai scoffed, squinting at the science teacher before walking away, _still not blinking_.

Natsumi's brain short-circuited.

Rossi-sensei started class normally like nothing happened.

(It was in the middle of the class when Natsumi suddenly had the epiphany that Sawada-san might have been about to invite her to lunch. It was Natsumi's long awaited opportunity to finally graduate from background character to supporting character and she missed it. Frankly, with all the times she saw Sawada-san frustrated to near tears, she was glad she missed it. The girl has the patience of a saint.)

(On that note, Rossi-sensei does not appreciate wandering thoughts during his class. At least Natsumi knew what the powerhouse of the cell is, thank you memes.)

.

.

Natsumi want it in writing that she _did not_ want to enter the infamous Disciplinary Committee's lair. In fact, she could happily graduate Vongola High without knowing what the interior of said lair looks like.

Alas, the universe just had to grant her the _honor_ of being one of the few beings (that isn't part of the committee) to know what it looks like. She didn't deserve such an honor. Maybe give it to someone more worthy instead?

Okay now she's just delaying the inevitable.

Natsumi knocked on the door and was instantly answered with a curt 'in'. With a gulp, she opened the door to her doom.

The room is…nice. Nicer than Natsumi would have expected. It looked more like a reception room than anything. But then again, considering it's in the first floor it _might_ have been a reception room before the Disciplinary Committee claimed it as their own.

She didn't get to inspect the room more as her eyes were instantly drawn to the figure sitting at a comfortable looking black-leather highback chair behind a sizable desk. Frankly, the sight of Hibari-sempai made Natsumi feel more like a lowly employee facing the CEO of the company she works in, the same man about to fire her for making a stupid mistake.

"Sit," he tilted his head towards the chair in front of the desk.

Natsumi hurriedly sat down, not wanting to further irritate the senior student.

There was silence. She didn't dare make eye contact and continued to stare at her hands clasped together on her lap. On the corner of her vision, she saw Hibari-sempai put something on the previously empty table. It's rectangular in shape and when she tried to focus on it without actually looking at it, she identified as a phone.

And then she realized it was _her _phone.

She immediately looked up and gaped at it. She chanced looking at the Demon Prefect's face and saw him smirking at her with too many teeth showing.

"Stupid herbivore," Hibari-sempai's grin widened with bloodlust-filled glee, "I'll bite you to death."

Natsumi wouldn't even deny that she squeaked like crushed mouse because it's _Hibari-sempai_ who just declared her doom. Instead, she shrunk into herself and shut her eyes, hands now gripping her skirt like a lifeline.

There was a 'swoosh' of air somewhere near her left ear immediately followed by a loud 'thunk' that almost drowned the sound of something cracking. She didn't even need to open her eyes to know that the Demon Prefect must have thrown something that barely missed her.

She whimpered.

Something or rather some_things_ dropped on her lap, right on top of her hands, so when she jumped a little in shock, whatever it was scattered on the floor around her.

Natsumi opened her eyes involuntarily with the need to know what the heck that was.

It was…papers?

"Sort them. Remove the irrelevant ones then mark the pages I need to sign," Hibari-sempai instructed.

"W-what…?" the female Emiya stuttered out, quite a bit confused. She's not getting beaten up?

As a response, the older student pulled _more papers_ out of nowhere and dumped it on the floor next to her feet, joining the previous ones she had spilled.

"Now."

Natsumi hurriedly sat on the floor to pick up the papers, lest the senior student add more.

(It was while she was sorting the papers, trying to figure which goes with which and stapling them together, that Natsumi realized she doesn't even know what is considered important or not. She chanced a glance at Hibari-sempai and when the prefect only glared back, she redirected her attention to the papers in front of her. She'll just have to take a guess then.)

.

.

Natsumi stared at her lunch, utterly exasperated.

Really Tatsu-nii? Heart-shaped onigiris?

She was glad she didn't get invited to lunch. Natsumi wouldn't know whether she'd explain how her brother made the cute things or if she'd (very reluctantly, mind you) claim to be the one who made it just to save her brother's dignity and masculinity.

The female Emiya picked one and started chomping on it fast.

There was only about ten minutes left of lunch when Hibari-sempai finally dismissed her and told her to return after classes. Natsumi was pretty sure the youngest Hibari only dismissed her because her stomach protested about its empty state _loudly_.

She only managed to eat two of the four she has when the warning bells rang across the building. She repacked her lunch regretfully and was taking a few gulps from her water bottle when Asari-sensei entered.

Natsumi gave the teacher a guilty and apologetic smile and Asari-sensei returned it with his own reassuring one.

For the rest of the afternoon, Natsumi would sneak eating a few bites of her onigiris in between classes and was finally able to finish the fourth one before the last class.

It was History class.

More importantly, _Hibari-sensei _was the one teaching the class.

No one dared make a noise while he was teaching. No one even dared to turn away from the board. No one dared to slump or put their head on their palms. No one sneakily yawned (though no one's probably feeling sleepy with how tense the room is). Heck, no one even dared to flip the pages of their books and notebooks loudly. The only noise was the scratching of the chalk across the board drowning out the scratching of pens on papers.

Even after the bell rang, the History teacher kept writing and no one dared to tell him that the class should be dismissed.

They could still remember the threats he gave everyone on their first year in Vongola High.

Anyone who will dare break the 'order' in his class will be cuffed to death…with detention.

Everyone was sure that the 'detention' part was an afterthought and the teacher really will kill them if they ever broke their sensei's precious 'laws'.

When Hibari-sensei finally stopped writing, everyone thought that he was going to pick up his things then leave without a word. It was what he had always done even way back last year.

No one predicted him opening his mouth.

"Emiya. Detention. One week."

Everyone's jaw dropped and stared either at either their History teacher or the poor unfortunate soul that is Emiya Natsumi. Both Hibaris in _one day_? What did she even do to warrant such bad luck?

Frankly, Natsumi didn't know either. Maybe in her previous life she pillaged a village, or maybe sunk a ship. Or heck maybe she caused the sinking of the Atlantis or something.

(A certain white-haired man with glasses sneezed.)

The female Emiya sputtered something incoherent and Hibari-sensei blandly countered.

"Two weeks."

"W-why?!"

"One month."

"B-but−!"

"Two months."

Natsumi clamped her lips together and bit her lips. Talking would just get her to more trouble.

"Follow me. Now."

The History teacher then left.

Natsumi's one thought was 'they really are brothers.'

.

.

Natsumi had just shoved the last of her things inside her school-issued bag when a concerned voice asked if she was alright. She would have snapped at said voice but when she turned and saw a genuinely concerned Sawada-san, all her anger left her and she just slumped in defeat.

No, Natsumi wasn't alright. She'd like to think it wasn't her fault she nearly froze to death but everyone else seems to think so and kept reminding her that it was. Why else would she keep getting reprimanded and punished? Maybe it _was_ her fault and if the bullies had to clean, she has detention with _Hibari-sempai _and _Hibari-sensei_. Didn't seem like a good tradeoff for her.

The female Emiya thought said sensei was one of the teachers supervising the punishment? How was he going to supervise her detention _and_ supervise the others?

Will…will they have to meet because of that? Will she be forced to interact with them?

Should she think up of an opening line?

'Hey I just met you but you've already tried to kill me once. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.'

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Maybe we could talk to Hibari-sensei about your detention? Maybe go to the Principal?" Sawada-san suggested.

Despite the amber-eyed girl suggesting this, the two brunettes exchanged doubtful looks.

Natsumi attempted a reassuring smile, "It's okay. I'll…I'll figure something out." She couldn't help but grimace because that meant she had to ask Hibari-sensei of all people to give her some leeway.

Good luck with that.

"Do you want us to wait for you?" the fluffy-haired brunette asked, tilting her head to Sasagawa-san, who gave Natsumi her own reassuring smile when their eyes met.

"It's okay, you don't have too," the female Emiya replied while waving her hands in front of her. She paused for a second when she remembered something, "Actually, could you instead tell my brother I'd be in detention? We were supposed to meet up by the school's main gate."

"Sure! No problem!"

"Thank you so much! He has black hair and eyes and he's about 6-foot tall. He usually carries a camera around and he's with his girlfriend. She's only a few inches shorter than him, black hair too and well-built."

Sawada-san nodded at the description, a determined expression on her face. At least until it turned into a confused one as she asked, "Why not just text him?"

"I lost my phone," Natsumi reflexively answered and that's when she realized she _also_ has detention with the Demon Prefect that afternoon.

Oh gosh, what did she do to deserve this?

"Oh, that's unfortunate."

Natsumi slumped with a pained 'yeah'. _Very_ unfortunate.

"I'll find your brother then. Promise! See you tomorrow!" Sawada-san said determinedly.

"If I live," the straight-haired brunette replied.

The amber-eyed girl laughed at that.

Natsumi wanted to say she wasn't joking but instead settled with saying her goodbyes to both Sawada-san and Sasagawa-san before she hurried to Hibari-sensei's faculty room.

_Sorry Hibari-sempai but sensei's scarier than you_, she apologized mentally, already knowing that said sempai would be furious anyway that she ditched him, whatever her reason may be.

.

.

Natsumi resisted the urge to fidget.

It had been almost 30 minutes since she was allowed inside Hibari-sensei's office and she hadn't been told to sit down yet so she was still standing by the closed door.

She had run her gaze through the very neat and very minimalistic office (and by that she meant bland and impersonal) a few times already and had settled to just staring at the papers on the desk. The papers Hibari-sensei had been grading the whole time he was ignoring her presence.

How long was she supposed to stand there and do nothing? Or was she missing something that she was supposed to do before the History teacher even deign to talk to her? If she had missed something, what was it?

Wait, she didn't have an official detention slip. Oops. She should go get it now.

"Sorry sensei, I'll just go to the admin and get my detention slip really quickly then," she broke the silence.

Hibari-sensei still wasn't reacting. Is she being treated as an invisible ghost now? Okay then…

She was just about to turn and leave when the door slammed open. It nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"_Alaude!_" came Vongola-sensei's incensed voice, "what's this about _two months' _worthof detention?!"

"Sorry sensei!" Natsumi apologized automatically.

"It's not your fault Emiya-san," the Math teacher turned to her as he walked inside and closed the door behind him, thankfully much calmer, "You are dismissed for today. Leave us, I need to talk to your teacher." The Vongola heir glared at his friend but the History teacher blandly stared back.

"Emiya. Stay until I dismiss you," Hibari-sensei countered.

Natsumi froze. Whose instruction is she supposed to follow then?! She panicked as two sets of eyes fell on her and waited for her decision.

For the love chocolates, what did she do to deserve this?!

She first looked at her sunshine-blonde Math teacher then at her pale-blonde History teacher.

Frankly she wanted to leave. But even Hibari-sensei's blank expression wouldn't fool her into thinking that leaving wouldn't have any consequences. She's already in trouble with one Hibari by just being here. Would she risk the wrath of another by leaving?

It wasn't even ten seconds in and she could already feel herself sweating.

When the door slammed open, she was thankful for a reason for delaying her decision. But when she turned to look at who it was, she took back her gratefulness.

It was Hibari-sempai.

"_Emiya_," the Demon Prefect growled out every syllable of her last name and it made Natsumi whimper, "You _dare_ skip detention with _me_."

Natsumi wants to cry.

"No," the sunshine-blond teacher interjected with a firm voice, "Emiya-san's detentions are all _nulled_. Especially when she has _two at the same time_."

A savior. Vongola Giotto is Natsumi's beloved _savior_. If her Math teacher could get her out of this trouble intact, she'll give him a Christmas present _and_ Valentines chocolates.

But Natsumi already knew what the result of two Hibaris tag-teaming the Vongola heir would be. A hospital hallway is a testament to that. She's grateful he's standing up for her but…

"Uhmm…Vongola-sensei," she called out hesitantly.

The Math teacher flashed her a reassuring smile, "It's okay Emiya-san, you can leave now."

Natsumi's gaze flicked at both Hibaris before returning to the sunshine-blond. She really wanted to ask is he was sure about this.

As if sensing her thoughts, Vongola-sensei gave a confident and reassuring grin, "I can take them both, don't worry."

Natsumi very much doubted his words, at least until his eyes flashed _orange_ for a second. She blinked, unsure of what she just saw but dismissed it as the sunset filtering through the faculty room's (rather large) window hitting her sensei's eyes just right.

Even though she dismissed it as nothing, somehow that flicker of orange made Natsumi believe in his words.

Very reluctantly, the female Emiya let herself be guided out by her Homeroom teacher, barely noticing the fact that both Hibari-sensei and Hibari-sempai looked tense and seemed to be considering Vongola-sensei warily.

**.**

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**.**

**I'M ALIVE!**

**Thank you for all the views, reviews, follows and favorites! I'll properly thank you my dears as well as answer the reviews in the next chapter!**

**I'm sorry this chapter had been delayed for waaaaayyyy over a month but I just couldn't get my inspiration to write back until I get the result.**

**Guess what?**

**A MIRACLE HAPPENED. I PASSED THE EXAM.**

**(I stared in disbelief at the e-mail sent to me for about ten seconds.)**

**Granted about 90 passed and they probably lowered their standards to admit that number. But whatever. A pass is a pass.**

**AND OH MY GOSH IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN TWO MONTHS.**

**The updates would probably be even more infrequent now that I'll become a working student but that wouldn't be until August so we have about a month of regular(ish) updates with us…?**

**I'm really, **_**really**_**, **_**REALLY**__**SORRY!**_

**Anyway, here's another chapter!**


	13. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11:**

**WELCOME TO ANOTHER CHAPTER!**

**Thank you for reading A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character!**

**So…anyone who expects some action written in this fic should be prepared to be disappointed. My English teacher in college told me I can't write action scenes for crap and frankly she's right. I'm not even going to subject you with it. (It was one of the 'bloodiest', i.e. my teacher's red colored pen, piece that I've ever written…at least not counting my high school research paper first draft.)**

**Yeah…I'm probably not gonna write any detailed fight scenes in the near future…**

**In any case…me posting the last chapter is literally fueled with my happiness for passing my entrance exam. The first half of the chapter was what I've managed to write for an **_**entire month**_** and the last half was written within the few hours of the day I found out I passed.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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When Natsumi closed the door of Hibari-sensei's faculty room behind her, she was fully prepared to hear the sound of chaos to start right after. But when only silence followed, she was a little confused.

Vongola-sensei looked d*mn ready to start _and win _a revolution while the Hibari brothers were fully ready to counterattack.

Slowly and cautiously, Natsumi pressed one ear against the door. Still, she couldn't hear anything. Was the room soundproof or something? She wouldn't put it pass the blond Hibari to demand such privacy.

"Emiya-san," a masculine voice called out and it made her jump away from the door. Natsumi turned towards the voice and she was sure she has that 'deer caught in headlights' look on her face. Meanwhile, Spade Daemon-sensei just looked amused.

"S-Spade-sensei! I−! Uhmm…I was−!" Natsumi couldn't form the words because one: she was just caught eavesdropping by a teacher; and two: wow he just looks like an older Rokudo-san with shorter hair, and you know, without the red right eye.

"Attempting to eavesdrop?" Spade-sensei _oh so kindly_ finished for her, still with an amused tilt to his lips.

Natsumi felt herself grimace guiltily at that, "M-Maybe…"

"Hm…pray tell me, what seems to be so intriguing that I caught you with an ear pressed on Hibari-sensei's door?" the teacher feigned a curious look but his eyes were glinting.

The sophomore started fiddling with the ends of her straight dark brown hair, a tick she has when she's nervous, "N-Nothing sensei."

Spade-sensei took a step towards her and practically loomed at her, "Is that so? I see…If I remember correctly, doesn't Emiya-san already have _two_ detentions? Perhaps this attempt at _deceiving_ a teacher meant that it wasn't enough. Do you need a _third_ one, Emiya-san?"

"V-Vongola-sensei already voided the detentions," Natsumi blurted out.

The blue-haired teacher leaned back, seemingly satisfied, "Ah." He then looked at the door, a smirk on his face. When he turned back to her, he already has a polite smile on his face, "I was just here to inform you that there seems to be a pair of adults waiting for you at the main gates."

The brunette just blinked at the sudden change of topic. Spade-sensei then turned on his heel and walked away while Natsumi dumbly stared at the back of his head. She had just noticed that the teacher's hair is a lighter shade of blue than her classmate's when he abruptly turned back to her again. It caused her to look down at the floor, a bit embarrassed being caught staring after a teacher.

"You might want to hurry down Emiya-san. The two have been waiting for a while now," he reminded her.

The female Emiya had just opened her mouth when someone shouted 'Spade-sensei'. The feminine voice came from the direction of the stairs.

Sawada-san came into view looking like she just ran a marathon, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. The amber-eyed girl took a moment to catch her breath before presenting the two-inch thick stack of paper with colorful dog-ears in her hands to the teacher.

The teacher thanked her before taking said stack of paper and resuming walking.

Sawada-san just seemingly noticed Natsumi's presence because she went wide-eye when their eyes met.

"Oh my Gosh Emiya-san, I'm so sorry!" Sawada-san exclaimed before the straight-haired brunette could get a word in.

The two of them walked together towards the shoe lockers while the fluffy-haired brunette explained that Spade-sensei caught her, Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san walking together towards the main gates and gave all three of them different tasks. Sawada-san had tried to finish her task, which is delivering a message to Elena-sensei, as fast as she could. But when the amber-eyed girl had delivered Elena-sensei's reply to Spade-sensei, the man had asked her to deliver a small box of papers to the Publishing Office. Then the Newspaper Club members started panicking about how they haven't printed out the latest batch of articles yet. While Sawada-san helped the club members print out and dog-ear the articles, the Newspaper Club President Haneda Norihiro, explained that Spade-sensei is the club's advisor.

"I haven't told your brother yet about your detention _and _I don't know how Kyoko-chan and Hana-chan is doing with their own tasks yet," Sawada-san confessed, a bit frantic and a bit teary-eyed.

Natsumi then tried her best to reassure her classmate that it was okay, she didn't mind that the fluffy-haired brunette didn't get to inform her brother what happened. The female Emiya then tried to wave off the other's apologies.

The brunettes were in the process of putting on their outdoor shoes, Sawada-san _still_ apologizing to Natsumi, when Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san caught up to them.

Then during their walk towards the main gates, Sasagawa-san had joined Sawada-san in apologizing to her while Natsumi had to continuously reassure them that they had nothing to apologize about. Meanwhile, Kurokawa-san was just exasperatedly sighing at them every now and then.

That was how Tatsuya and Ara found the four of them at the main gates.

"Do I want to know…?" the male Emiya hesitantly asked.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*The author had renewed her contract with the Line Factory*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Natsumi, Sawada-san and Sasagawa-san were talking over each other, trying to explain to Tatsuya what happened. In the end, Ara had to tell them to please shut up, they are not making any sense and Kurokawa-san had to be the one to explain the situation.

"It's the fault of this 'Spade-sensei'. End of discussion. Now, do your girls want to join us? We're going to the movies," Ara concluded for all of them.

All four sophomores blinked at the sudden change of topic.

Kurokawa-san was the first one to snap out of it, "Which movie?"

"That new superhero movie, Shazam. Seemed comedic for a DC movie," Ara answered.

"You guys paying?" Kurokawa-san asked, which earned twin exclamations of 'Hana-chan!' from Sasagawa-san and Sawada-san.

"Of course!" Natsumi immediately answered.

Sasagawa-san and Sawada-san was about to protest when Tatsuya cut them off.

"Please join us. I'm glad Natsu has some friends at school. She became a bit of a loner ever since we moved here in Japan and I was getting worried she still hasn't made friends at school," the male Emiya then gave them a charming and amicable smile.

Natsumi wasn't fooled. Her brother just tried to convince the three girls to come with them _and _insult her at the same time. The meanie. She turned to her three yearmates and saw that they the look on their faces that just screams they had a realization of some sort.

Okay, so what if she eats lunch at school alone. Or go to the mall alone. Or she only casually talks to the rest of their classmates. And doesn't have anyone that she could call a close friend.

Alright maybe she doesn't have friends _at school_. She has friends in other places! Like I-Pin-chan!

"We'll join you to the movies! Let me just text my mother," Sawada-san decided as she took out her phone.

"Me too. I'll call my brother for a bit, excuse me," Sasagawa-san said before walking a few steps away and dialing a number on her phone.

"Let me text my parents too, excuse me," Kurokawa-san told them as she was typing something on her phone.

Natsumi stared longingly at the phones they were using. When the heck is she going to be able to get her own back? Then she remembered the fury on Hibari-sempai's face when he realized she skipped her detention with him.

Well…she'll probably have to buy a new one instead at this point. Her contacts and her favored songs are on the other phone though. Darn.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Unexpected line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was while walking towards the shopping district, where Namimori's lone cinema is located, that they encountered one Miura Haru. And she was…a character. Natsumi grimaced at her own failed description, even if it was just inside her head.

The girl was their year, but was enrolled in Midori High. Natsumi would have wanted to enroll there but the elite all-girls school didn't offer any scholarships and discounts.

Miura-san is a very energetic and enthusiastic girl that refers to herself in third person. And apparently, she is Sawada-san's childhood friend.

As promised, the Emiyas shouldered the cost of the tickets but when the siblings also offered to buy the food and drinks, the other sophomores outright refused and even marched towards the food stall to buy their own.

The group of seven enjoyed the movie in varying degrees and when they came out of the theater, four of the five sophomore girls were sporting a new crush.

"What was the name of the protagonist again? The younger version?" Sasagawa-san asked with a giggle.

"Asher Angel," Natsumi replied with a grin of her own.

"Haru thinks she's in love," Miura-san then swooned.

"He's very…" Sawada-san trailed off but the other three _kindly_ provided for her.

Sasagawa-san: "Handsome?"

Natsumi: "Attractive?"

Miura-san: "Both?"

It made Sawada-san giggle, "I'm with Haru-chan here, he's both."

Then all four giggled.

**(A.N: By the way, the author feels a bit like a pedophile in this part, being an adult and describing a sixteen-year old 'attractive' and all. But since Natsumi is around the age of said actor, I thought it appropriate that she'd have a crush on him. And also I may have assumed here that all of them could understand English very well.)**

While the two adults only looked on amused, Kurokawa-san sighed at their antics.

They ate dinner at a family-owned restaurant and arrived just in time before Hibari Fon-san's patisserie closed.

After reassurances from said owner that he didn't mind staying open for a while more, the group of seven settled around the small shop. Tatsuya and Ara had a table to themselves and the five girls allowed the couple their privacy. Meanwhile the sophomores managed to squeeze around a circular table even if they have to drag extra chairs.

"We should watch more movies together," Sawada-san concluded.

"Haru agrees! Movies with more cute boys and less monsters," Miura-san interjected.

The two, Sasagawa-san and Natsumi grimaced at that.

Kurokawa-san scoffed, "They aren't _that _bad."

"They are…grotesque," Natsumi countered and earned three nods.

When Kurokawa-san looked like she was about to counter, Sasagawa-san clapped her hand once and instantly earned all their attentions. "Why don't we order?" she suggested.

After they all got their own choice of cake and tea, the talk moved on to other things. They let Miura-san rant about the competitive atmosphere in Midori High and then let her whine about how the rest of them were in the same school while she's all alone in another. Then they let Kurokawa-san described how the other class was doing and then let her rant a bit about 'immature monkeys'. Sasagawa-san then told them about how sometimes she just couldn't keep up with the overwhelming energy of her older brother and uncle, Sasagawa Knuckle-sensei. Sawada-san then told them about how she and her mother are bonding over her learning to cook but carefully didn't comment anything about her father. And lastly, Natsumi ranted about all the schoolwork she had to catch up with and how she had to play baseball with the boys tomorrow because she missed the girls' turn last week.

Even Kurokawa-san was sympathetic about that, "Good luck with that, the monkeys in our year are _crazy_."

Natsumi sagged back in her chair, "I'm dying tomorrow, aren't I?"

Cue reassurances from her yearmates.

The night ended with the seven of them parting on their ways, not before helping Hibari-san clean his shop. I-Pin-chan is apparently having a day off today.

Natsumi, Tatsuya, Ara, Hibari-san and Tsuna-chan (it feels so good to call girls around her age with a more familiar suffix, no offense to her dear I-Pin-chan) went one direction, and Hana-chan, Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan went the other. Not long after, Tsuna-chan and Hibari-san split with them, the pastry chef walking the amber-eyed girl to her home.

"Today seems like a good day," Tatsuya remarked.

Natsumi's mind turned towards the miserable day at school that the happenings of tonight barely eclipsed, "I guess…could have been better though."

Her dear brother snorted.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I'd like to purchase some of your finest line, please*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The next morning, Natsumi made sure to leave for school extra, _extra_ early just so there wouldn't be a chance of meeting either Hibari-sempai or Hibari-sensei. Her dear brother looked so amused she actually woke up early. And then he gave a comment that started another bad day.

"It seems like you're eager to get crushed in P.E. later," Tatsuya said.

It was supposed to be a teasing comment but it _still_ reminded Natsumi of her impending doom. Shooting the male Emiya a glare, she hastily left for school.

While walking, Natsumi had been contemplating all the excuses she could use. They thought she was sick the whole week last week, right? Maybe she could fake not feeling well or something. Oh wait, of course Sasagawa-sensei knew what really happened. Natsumi hoped Kyoko-chan made good with her promise to ask her uncle to take it easy on the brunette.

Natsumi was so distracted that she completely forgot about the other Sasagawa.

Her only warning was a shout of 'EXTREME' and then something, or rather _someone_, knocked her off her feet then decided to shower her with dust. The female Emiya was left coughing on the ground as the shouting went fainter and fainter.

_How the heck_ did she forget about Sasagawa-sempai?

"Are you okay?" a meek, masculine voice asked.

Natsumi took the hand offered to her, still coughing a bit, "I'll live." When she finally got a clearer view of the concerned stranger, the first thing she noticed is the compass-patterned eye.

"I-I see. Y-You might want to change," the boy pointed out with a stutter.

The female Emiya looked down even though she knew what she was going to see, her uniform dirty and her whole body covered in dust. She sighed, "And a shower."

"You still have time," was Cozart-san's attempt at being reassuring.

She looked at her wristwatch that had thankfully survived the ordeal intact and without a scratch. Class is still an hour and a half away. She should hurry back home if she wanted that shower. Natsumi then turned to her former classmate, "Thank you for helping me, Cozart-san. See you around."

The red-head, who wasn't in his uniform yet probably out of the house for something else, gave a hesitant wave instead of a reply. She belatedly realized he was holding a paperbag, with delicious-smelling bread inside. For breakfast?

She mentally shook her head, it wasn't her business, then gave him a wave as well before fast-walking home.

She thought that was the end of it when she didn't encounter anyone noteworthy on the way home. She put up with her brother's fussing and Ara's demands to know what happened before a hurried shower. Only then did she notice the scratches below her elbow because _ouch water suddenly hurts_. They were only superficial, not even bleeding, so she left them alone.

She hurriedly put on her uniform, silently cursed the fact that her hair isn't shorter than it currently is as she brushed it, stole a strip of bacon from her brother's plate while he was busy frying another egg, then rushed out of the house before Tatsuya could yell at her for the 'offense'. Meanwhile, Ara just watched the younger girl's antic with an amused expression.

So there she was, sipping the last of the taste of the bacon from her fingers as she closed the gate. When she turned around, fingers still in her mouth, the first thing that her mind process was Hibari-sensei standing in front of his own gate. Natsumi, the stupid little girl that she is, froze in that position.

Hibari-sensei looked at her, briefly glanced at the fingers in her mouth, then stared at her in the eye again with a raised eyebrow. He looked utterly unimpressed, even with the small bruise on his left jaw.

"Natsumi!" there was a yell from inside the house. It was her brother. The Emiya residence's front door opened and the yelling resumed, "Did you steal my bacon?!"

That jolted Natsumi out of her frozen state and she ran for it.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*BBB: Bacon Best Breakfast*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

Vongola-sensei has a bandage over his nose and a small split on his lower lip. He looked a little roughed up and it gained him a lot of concerned inquiries from mostly the female students. He looked sheepish while he reassured everyone that he was fine and made sure to give Natsumi an assuring smile. She did her best to smile back. But she couldn't look at her homeroom teacher's face for too long before looking down guiltily.

Thankfully no one noticed.

.

At least she hoped no one noticed. No need for another _incident_.

***-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Line has its straights and curves*-*-*-*-*-*-*-***

The sophomores, both classes, had P.E. before lunch. A good thing. You can't throw up if your stomach is empty. One would think that mere P.E. wouldn't be enough to make someone attempt to eject their stomach from their bodies but if their teacher is one Sasagawa Knuckle with his ULTIMATE P.E., the chances are higher than a nerd's average grade.

"And remember Emiya-san, you're bat just have to ULTIMATELY touch the ball!" Sasagawa-sensei explained.

Nastumi nodded meekly because as easy as that sounds it really wasn't because the pitcher is _Yamamoto Takeshi_.

While Tsuna-chan and Kyoko-chan encouraged her to do well, Hana-chan plainly told her that she hoped she survived. It earned her a light reprimand from the other two. Natsumi just smiled and thanked them.

"Let's do our best!~" Yamamoto-san shouted from the pitching mound while Natsumi settled near the home plate.

The baseball ace's smile is so sincere that Natsumi couldn't help but smile back. It didn't stop her from whispering a prayer hoping she'd live through this.

"Don't worry you'll live," the catcher replied and Natsumi turned to him. He has average features and Natsumi determined he was her fellow background character. "Me though? I have to _catch _those balls," the boy grumbled.

Natsumi had to search her mind to recall his name. Sugino Shinsuke. He's a tall guy, as tall as Yamamoto-san, and was mocked because instead of playing a sport, he joined the dance club.

She then raised her bat and bent her knee a little just as Sasagawa-sensei taught her. She felt awkward doing it though.

Natsumi suddenly had a realization that she _had_ graduated from background character to supporting character just yesterday evening. Woops.

It was a bad time to get distracted because she belatedly noticed Yamamoto-san positioning himself to throw the ball. Suffice to say that Natsumi missed the ball by a mile.

Some of the boys scattered in the field snickered. The guy playing the shortstop, the player in between the second and third base, even stood up in a relaxed position and shouted, "There's no way she'll hit the ball guys. Just relax!"

_What a b*stard_, was Natsumi's immediate thought. The reason she hadn't decided to march right up to him and swing the bat at his head is because the Sugino-san grumbled the same thing she just thought and a little because of the fact that Yamamoto-san was openly frowning at his teammates.

"ULTIMATE concentration, Emiya-san!" the PE teacher reprimanded.

"Yes, sensei!" Natsumi replied obediently.

This time she was more prepared but even if she came close to batting the ball, she still missed. The catcher hissed. There were even more snickers. Now Yamamoto-san is openly scowling at his teammates. Her friends looked outraged on her behalf. Natsumi was pretty sure Hana-chan was muttering something unflattering about 'stupid monkeys'.

"Please, _please_ hit the ball on the next pitch. My hands might come off if I have to catch another ball thrown by Yamamoto-san," Sugino-san pleaded in a low tone.

"I'm trying!" the female Emiya whisper-yelled.

While Natsumi prepared for the next pitch, some of the boys _supposedly_ on standby to catch the ball from the outerfield had gathered towards the shortstop player and now they seemed to be just talking, occasionally snickering while looking at her direction.

The f*ckers.

(If Tatsuya could ever read Natsumi's thoughts, she would have been _very _acquainted with the taste of soap with how frequent she cusses internally. Hey, at least she doesn't say them out loud.)

This time, she watched Yamamoto-san carefully. She knew that if she tried to bat after she had seen the ball thrown, she would be a tad too late. So she'll try to swing her bat just as the ball leaves the pitcher's hand and hope to the high heavens that she'll actually swing where the ball would be instead of a random direction.

The ball left baseball ace's hand. Natsumi was halfway through swinging the bat. She hit the ball.

In the wrong direction. Because instead of going high, the ball remained low.

Let it be said that thanks to archery, Natsumi's arms has surprising strength in them. And that she's _really_ accurate.

Still, this one Natsumi would forever claim was unintentional.

The ball hit the shortstop's vital regions.

There was a high pitch scream.

"Ushishishishi, the Prince is now interested in playing baseball."

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**END OF CHAPTER!**

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**Frankly, I was quite reluctant to let Natsumi be friends with the main cast because she was supposed to be a background character. And well, with all the crap that happened to her, she might as well have friends to help her deal with them.**

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**Thank you ****Salimiome****, **_**kaze senju the wolfwarriorgirl**_**, ****QuibblerReporterLuna****, **_**Micha247**_**, ****VividReader365****, **_**Crows-Love-Henry**_**, ****Emerald180****, **_**sinegas22**_**, ****snowfloat****, **_**Writing-stuff-4-fun**_**, ****Kiur****, **_**gingerchicken**_**, ****mide1718****, **_**Zakath1**_**, ****AJKitkat****, **_**Scarlet Clown**_**, ****The Lovely Zombie****, **_**arizona118**_**, ****blueorangatan****, **_**tigerblood917**_**, ****Amusedsomang****, **_**Beasttamer99**_**, ****IceBlack****, **_**yama-chan82201**_**, ****Thelonewolf87****, **_**rickrossed**_**, ****Ectomotive****, **_**Yui123**_**, ****sabri10chase****, **_**CryingHands**_**, ****AnimeFreak9096****, **_**mslagle3199**_**, ****Animeisheaven****, **_**Princess**_**, ****konan248****, **_**Bluegirl-334**_** and two guests for the reviews, follows and favorites!**

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**Animeisheaven: Yep, the Hindi movie. It was quite popular in my hometown during the year before I graduated high school and when I watched it I felt like I could take on college or something lol. I **_**just**_** had to mention it. And I'm also glad you still read this story**

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**Princess: I'm happy you think my AU is awesome. Thank you!**

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**Bluegirl-334: No mention of Byakuran's revenge **_**yet. **_**Sorry there wasn't any details in the Hibaris vs Giotto fight because again, I'm crap at action scenes. Thank you! And unfortunately, more misfortune finds their way to Natsumi**

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**Guest1: I'm glad you liked my OC and hopefully, Giotto had earned dome of his honor back : ) The way that some of my readers, including you, could gain strong emotions from the scenes I write encourages me to write better.**

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**konan248: I tried my best with writing Byakuran. Honestly, he fights me sometimes when I write him. Sometimes when I try to string the story somewhere, he would be like lol no, this way to the curvy route, who wants a boring straight path? I'm honestly thankful my Byakuran is earning positive responses. Thank you! And well, she's a long way from gaining that phone back with an angry Kyoya.**

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**Crows-Love-Henry: Thank you forgiving this story a chance! I also hope that karma would bite those bullies *sses when they least expected it. I hope you continue to enjoy this story!**

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**sinegas22: Thank you! And thankfully I passed the exam! Woooo!**

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**Writing-stuff-4-fun: Unfortunately that might not happen but it **_**did**_** give me an idea for something… Hmmm…**

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**AJKitkat: Thank you for taking an interest in this story. I hope you keep reading!**

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**Guest2: Thank you so much! And also I understand that you worry over the fact that my intended hiatus went beyoooond when I was supposed to come back. I'm not abandoning this story so I hope you keep reading and keep loving it!**

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**Amusedsomang: Thank you and I'm glad I could go back to updating this with a peaceful mind.**

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**Sorry about the later than it should be chapter but urrggghhh, **_**overtime at work**_**. Like I already dedicate 9 hours (including 1 hour lunchbreak) a day for you not to mention 3 hours of transportation **_**every day**_** added into it and **_**still**_** you ask for more hours. Urrggghh! If I didn't need money to continue studying and you know, survive everyday I'd sleep all day every day. That's how much I love my bed.**

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**In any case, SEE YOU ON THE NEXT CHAPTER MY BELOVED READERS!**


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